An Improved Past
by Sarnai4
Summary: Dagur the Deranged has done many things in his life-some good and some horrific. In his older age, he not only regretted his past actions, but sought a way to rectify them. In this alternate universe, a time machine has granted the Berserker chief the ability to travel back and influence his past self. With this new factor, will the future become brighter or more murky?
1. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to Dreamworks and Netflix.** **Eventually, the two Dagurs will be called past Dagur pD and future Dagur fD so that there is less confusion on who is speaking.**

The time had come again for the Berkians and Berserkers to sign their peace treaty, ensuring that no battling between the two tribes transpire. Such an act should have been unchanging, however, there was a major difference in who would be signing for the latter vikings. Dagur paced back and forth, practicing his snarls. _"They're going to have to believe that I killed Dad. Otherwise, they won't respect me as a leader."_ he thought. Looking at his reflection in some water, his frown deepened until the young viking found it to be menacing enough. _"__Perfect."_ Uncomfortable nerves were in his stomach. What if they did not believe him? Stoick would be difficult to deceive and surely Dagur's best friend, Hiccup, would not take him for a coldblooded murderer. Letting out an exasperated roar, the new Berserker chief leaned against the hut's wall. Suddenly, he sensed someone else being around him. Reaching behind his back to grab a knife, a voice calmly said, "No need for that. I'm not here for a fight." Still ready for a battle, Dagur turned to see a muscular viking that was not much taller than he was, had red hair and a beard, a scar along his face, and two sets of blue claw mark tattoos. The younger viking's eyes widened, "Who are you?" Chuckling, the man replied, "That's the harder part to explain." He paused for a moment, "I'm you...from the future."

For several seconds, the two looked at one another. Finally, the elder Dagur spoke again, "I know that it's strange, but I'm telling the truth." The speaking snapped the younger viking back. He began eying the other Berserker, skeptically, "Why should I believe you? So what we have the same tattoos? Anyone could have mimicked the markings." He circled him, "You-or as you claim-I should be taller. What's with the scar and why the haircut?" Sighing, he was given an answer, "That's because of the poor choices I've made in my life. Changes that I'm here to help you prevent." The younger Dagur was still loath to settle for this concept, "I need more than that. Tell me something that only I'd know." Nodding, the elder viking responded, "You didn't kill Oswald. You're just making people believe that because you don't think they'll follow you otherwise. According to you, Ansson's ruined any chance of the other Berserkers seeing you as a respectable leader." Sheepishly, Dagur crossed his arms in front of him, "Fine, so you're from the future. Why'd you pick **now **to come?" The elder let out a grunt, "I wanted to go even further back-you know, to stop you from sending a certain sister of ours adrift-but this was as far as I could go." The teenager rubbed the back of his neck, "That was an accident." he told, quietly. "Yeah, I know," he was told, "but you won't want to try to explain that in about three years. Follow my path, and you'll have a lot of explaining to do to Heather and not one bit of what you'll have to say will be anything to make her not hate you."

"I need you to be willing to listen to me. Also, keep in mind that other vikings won't actually be able to see me." fD stated. "Why won't they?" pD questioned. "It's the way the time traveling is working. There'd be too many crazy changes if everyone saw. So, only you need to know I'm here. Are you willing to listen?" fD asked. Slowly, pD nodded, "I guess." FD clapped his hands, "Good. The first thing you need to know is that the Berkians do, in fact, have dragons. Not as an army per se, but they still have them." PD frowned, "My sources are right? Well, should I attack?" FD shook his head, "No. That doesn't work." The Berserker sighed, "They're going to lie to you about not training dragons." Rage flashed in pD's eyes, prompting fD to speak again, "But, we kind of deserved that. They lied-or will lie-because they think that if you know, you'll attack them and ruin the peace that's existed for so long. And you can't tell me that you wouldn't attack since I wanted to." PD's eyes shifted downwards, "You might have a point. If they're going to lie and I can't attack, what do I do?" FD gave an encouraging smile, "And here's the hard part for you, you'll need to seem trustworthy and stable. At least stable enough to be told that your allies have fire breathing war machines at their command."

The younger Dagur looked at the older as though he had just been told he could not take down a Monstrous Nightmare and let out a manical laugh, "Seem stable? Maybe you've forgotten, but I'm about to start going by 'Dagur the Deranged'. Hey, do we keep that title or are we too nice and gentle for it in the future?" FD pursed his lips, "We still use it." he replied, curtly, "I'm not telling you to be sane, just to seem stable **enough**. I'll be there with you to keep you on track. Speaking of that, you should start sailing now." A knock sounded on the door to the hut. "Sir, the ships have been prepared and the vikings are in the vessels." Berserker Harold informed the new chief. "Start getting the sails ready. We're about to leave." Dagur stated. "Of course, Chief." The younger Dagur looked at his older counterpart and put on his helmet. "Convince them that I can be trusted." he intoned, walking to the door, "Shouldn't be too hard." FD gave a smile that faded as soon as pD looked away, _"Thor help us."_


	2. Good Impressions

The Berserker ships sailed to the Berkian shore. Throughout the trip, pD was being nearly bombarded with "advice" on how to behave when they arrived. "Also," fD continued, taking a breath, "don't try to throw knives at Hiccup or mention the whole fed Fishlegs rotten cod heads while he was locked up thing." PD shot up from his seat, "What? How else is Hiccup supposed to learn agility if he doesn't have some incentive? And you can't make me think that Fishy wouldn't be the first to crack after being abducted. If he can handle **me **kidnapping him, he'll be fine." FD rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Remember, I get the rationale, but that doesn't change the fact that no one else does." The teenager scrunched up his face. "Just don't seem like you're trying to kill them, okay?" the seasoned chief requested. "Fine." pD said with a huff, "Can I not try to drown Hiccup either?" he asked, sarcastically. "Actually, no, you shouldn't." the boy was told. PD let out a loud grunt, "When you don't remember seeing Hiccup around because he doesn't know how to prevent himself from drowning in the future, we'll both know why!" Another knock came on the door, "Chief, are you all right?" PD opened his mouth to complain about his visitor, but recalled what he had been told about who could see the older Dagur. "I'm fine, Harold. We should be close to Berk now, so get prepped for docking."

As they started to pull into the dock, the young chief felt more nervous. "What should I say? I'm guessing not, 'good weather for some dragon training, huh?"" FD laughed. "No, I'd avoid saying that if I were you. Just be sincere. There'll be some parts when you should say what I tell you, but you can handle most of it." They both felt the vessel come to a halt and simultaneously took a deep breath. PD went to the top deck of his ship and awaited his announcement. Hearing Harold say, "Cracker of skulls" and all of those other violent things about him suddenly did not seem like such a brilliant notion. "Forgot I told him to say that." he whispered to the elder chief. FD grimaced, "Me too. Oh, and there's this Hideous Zippleback that'll be running around. They'll try to keep it a secret from you." Before the teenaged Berserker could comment, he was shooed down the ship's ramp, seeing the horrified faces of his Berkian allies. "Greet them, calmly." fD instructed. PD tried to not show his anxiety, "Chief Stoick, Gobber, Hiccup." With each name said, he dipped his head in the viking's direction. The Berkians raised their brows and FD gave him two thumbs up. "Where's your father, Dagur?" Stoick asked, looking past the Berserker and into the vessel, hopefully. Even the boy's future self felt a bit hurt as he recalled how disappointed the Berkians used to be to see him. "Answer honestly, but don't disclose too much." he told. The younger Berserker had been thinking of things to say on the sail over, so he used his best idea. "My father has been unavailable for some time due to new work that he's found. In his absence, I've been the head of the Berserkers."

Stoick's brows furrowed, "That's not like Oswald to miss one of these signings." he thought aloud. The Berkian welder looked to his left, seeing the tail of a Zippleback. "Well, let's get those papers so that you can be on your way." Gobber commented, wanting to provide a diversion. They started going in the direction of the Great Hall. "Suggest altering the alliance that you have." fD said. PD cleared his throat, "I was thinking," he balked, hearing Stoick make a small grunt of disbelief, "that we could improve our alliance." The elder chief continued walking towards the Hall, "There's nothing to improve, Dagur. Our tribes have been at peace for a long time without the need of adaption. If your father were here, he'd agree." Undeterred, Dagur pressed the matter, "We've been more of acquaintances than allies. It wouldn't hurt if we did something beyond just not raging war against each other. For instance, we've got a lot of Willow Bark on Berserker Island. If you guys ran out, we could help. See?" Though Stoick and Gobber did not slow down their paces, their expressions did change. "That's actually not a bad idea." Hiccup admitted. The edges of Dagur's mouth were tempted to go upwards. To ruin the moment, a loud dragon roar was heard. PD sent fD a look. "To be honest, it would be **more** strange if you didn't react to that." the viking conceded to him. As soon as pD turned, Hiccup pretended that his stomach had growled.

"I should go check on something." the young Berkian said, rushing off in the direction of the reptile. The rest of the walk was short and the vikings sat down to a table filled with foods. Some of the other Berkians eyed Dagur, curiously. "Where's Oswald?" He heard one ask. There was hardly enough silence to hear yourself think, what with all the Berkians singing Oswald's praises. "And this one time," Mulch started, laughing with joy, "Oswald came up with the smartest idea! Oh, he **is **the best." While they were doing this, the older Dagur kept trying to calm down his younger self. "Try not to let it get to you." he suggested. PD stabbed a mutton leg, with a bit more force than what would be considered normal. Glancing down near where he stabbed, pD saw his copy of the treaty being slided over to him by Gobber. Stoick was given his next and was about to sign. "Are we signing with the new agreement?" Dagur inquired. The Berkian stopped before he could mark the scroll, "I'm not sure if we should." he said. FD interrupted pD's thoughts of frustration, "In a few minutes, the Zippleback is going to be back here." Getting the hint, pD recommended, "There's something that I need to take care of, so how about we meet back up in a few minutes?" Still hesitant, Stoick conceded. Dagur left the Great Hall and went to his ship, positively steaming. "'I'm not sure'?!" he yelled, punching a wall, "There's no down side to this deal! If you don't need help, nothing happens and if you do, you get some. Bam! Perfect alliance."

"It's not the **idea** he's unsure about. It's you. He still hasn't seen enough to make him feel comfortable with having you instead of Dad." fD stated. PD looked at him, glumly, "How do I change that now? We need to sign this today." FD sighed, "In my experience, it takes time. He might not sign to that deal, but over more time, I can see it happening." PD groaned and left the ship. Once he had, he saw Hiccup and headed over. The smaller viking looked exceedingly more nervous as the larger boy approached him. "H-hey, how's the signing going?" Hiccup asked, thinking that he was being inconspicuous, though he nearly grimaced everytime the dragon made a loud shuffle in the village. "Not great." the chief told him. Dagur paused, "Hiccup, I..I want to apologize for some of the things I've done to you." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I've been told that apparently agility practice and water training aren't normal activities to have between friends." Despite not necessarily agreeing with them being friends, Hiccup was surprised by the apology. "I guess, I could have mentioned something too about it. I appreciate the apology." he said, sincerely and shocked. "And I haven't seen Fishlegs anywhere, so could you pass on that I'm sorry about the whole cage and cod thing?" the Berserker requested. Hiccup nodded, "I'll let him know."

In the Great Hall, the Berkians had just shooed Barf and Belch away. "Good thing Dagur wasn't here to see that." Stoick said. Gobber shrugged, "I don't know. He might have been okay with it." Before Stoick could question his sanity, Gobber recommenced, "Obviously, he's always been a bit off, but he's seemed fine today." "And that's my concern." the chief stated, "He's unpredictable. Maybe he'll be fine today and want to attack tomorrow? Our peace has always worked **because **of the lack of interaction. Even despite how peaceful Oswald is, his people are still berserk." Gobber scratched his chin, "Looks to me like taking over Oswald's position has helped Dagur mature some. We could give him a chance." Stoick glared at the peace treaty like it was his greatest enemy, then sighed, "Why didn't Oswald just come? If he'd suggested it at all in the first place, I'd consider signing with him." The older Berkian toyed with the rock in his mouth, "I doubt that he's away because of work. Not sure what else it could be, but I'm pretty sure that was a lie. Just because of who Oswald is. He's come here sick beyond his wits, his nose buried in work, and a baby on the way. He's never missed one of these signings." Stoick sat up in his chair, "Another reason to not trust Dagur. He's a liar." At this, Gobber laughed, "Thinking back to a couple of minutes ago when we tried to keep our dragons from being seen, I don't think we can get judgy." By now, Stoick had stopped listening, thinking about his next move. "I have a way that we can find out if Oswald's back on the island or not."

Hiccup had run off to the training arena, hoping to find either Barf and Belch or the twins, so Stoick and Gobber returned to a knife-sharpening Dagur. Of course, he licked it when he was done, resulting in a grunt from his future self. "Maybe try not to kick blades in front of them." fD told him, shaking his head. The boy tried to recover, putting the weapon away. "I've decided," Stoick began, "that I will sign this new agreement if your father does as well." Dagur stared blankly for a moment, "But, he's not here. Remember?" The older chief nodded, "I do, but this **is** portable. You can bring your paper to him and he can sign it." There was a slight pause before Dagur spoke again. "All right." he said, calmly, though not without some bitterness in his voice. Not expecting that reply, Stoick's eyes widened slightly and they returned to the Great Hall. The Berkian signed his name and handed it to the other chief. "I guess that I'm done here." the viking said, coldly. He exited the Hall and scowled at his older self. "Worked like a charm, that sanity." he snarked, quietly so that no one else could hear him. "I told you that it takes time. I don't think that Stoick ever learned to trust me in my future, so you're off to a better start at least with him being willing to agree with your idea." FD smirked, "And as far as the paper goes, forged signature?" "Naturally." Just before they reached the ship, a loud explosion sounded from the training arena. Dagur paled, "Hiccup's in there." he said. Before he knew it, he was running to the arena as well.

The Berserker reached the arena in no time and saw that smoke covered the entire area. He heard the shuffles and roars of several dragons, not just the Zippleback. Dagur went in as the smoke cleared. As it gradually did, he saw a Gronckle, Deadly Nadder, and Monstrous Nightmare. From what the chief could tell, the Hideous Zippleback was out of control. It was randomly expelling gas and creating sparks, often in the direction of the other dragons. After it shot at the Deadly Nadder, the second dragon fired its spines around itself. Instinctively, Dagur tackled Hiccup to the ground, preventing him from getting impaled. The Berserker looked back up and saw that he was not the only one who wanted to keep the Berkian safe. A mere foot away from him was a Night Fury. Dagur jumped to his feet and backed away from the reptile. Hiccup looked at the dragon then the viking. Suddenly, he grabbed a shield and stood between the two, his shield facing Toothless. "The dragons are attacking!" Hiccup warned, with a less than stellar acting performance, "Run, Dagur. Save yourself!" The Berserker raised a brow at the younger boy's antics before recalling that Hiccup was trying to keep a secret.

The other vikings picked up on what Hiccup was doing and commenced running from their dragons. Even though Dagur knew that it was all staged, it was challenging to see the dragons try to attack the vikings without doing something. He lost it when the Night Fury prepared to fire a plasma blast. Drawing his own blade, the Berserker chief slid in front of his friend and lunged at the dragon. Toothless maneuvered out of the way and got ready to shoot him. Blue light lit up in the back of his throat as a blast was about to come. "Stop!" Hiccup told him. Toothless closed his mouth and tilted his head at Hiccup. Hearing the Berkian, the other dragons stopped as well. The heir could see in his friends' faces that they thought he was crazy for calling off the dragons. "What's going on?" Dagur asked him, eyes still locked on Toothless. Hiccup sighed, "Within the last few months, Berk's changed some things." He looked at the others, who were no more certain what to do than he, "We found the source for **why **the dragons were attacking and stopped it. Now, not only have we made peace with the dragons, but some friendships too." Toothless went over to him and nuzzled his head against the Berkian's hand. Dagur looked at all the dragons and how they got along with the vikings. For several seconds, he was silently taking it in. "And now, you have a Night Fury at your command." he noted, a large smile forming, "This is cool." The Berkians sighed breaths of relief.

Dagur laughed his signature cackle, "I've got a yak load of questions." Out of the corner of his eye, his saw his older self coming over, "Love the enthusiasm and I'm sure they do too, but there's another place we need to start traveling to." FD glanced at Snotlout and smirked, "We gots to go." PD let out a low grunt, "Unfortunately, I'll have to ask those later." He paused, hopefully, "When I come back, maybe?" Hiccup thought about it, "Um, all right." He received a beaming smile and the Berserker went back to his ship. "Okay, you're not leading me too far astray. They actually don't mind me coming back! That's **never **happened before." He grinned as he began sketching, "And that Night Fury's cool. What's it's name?" FD smiled, "His name is Toothless. Weird, huh?" "Extremely." The younger viking looked up from his dragon sketch with askance in his eyes. "You said we're going somewhere else and it seemed time sensitive. Where are we going?" FD ran a hand over an armrest for a large chair. "We're going to find Dad.


	3. The Search

The young chief glanced at the older, a nonchalant look on his face. "I'm sorry...what?" FD answered, "We're going to bring Oswald back." PD let out a spiteful laugh, "Yeah right. There are three major things wrong with that. One, I don't know where he is; two, he told me not to tell anyone; and three, I don't want to find him." The elder viking's eyes narrowed, "We agreed that I'd call the shots. This is one of those times." PD made a face, "Why should I go get him? I don't have time to go off on stupid exhibitions. I've got an entire island to keep in check. **He's **made sure of that." FD opened his mouth to protest, but pD spoke first, "Look. If I start feeling bad or something, I'll try to find him." He flicked his wrist, dismissively, "It'll probably be sometime a lot lat-" "It won't matter later!" the future Dagur yelled. The man took several deep breaths and said one 'omm', "It has to be now and **you **have to trust me on this. I know where he is-or at least where he will end up." PD looked at fD for a while, then reluctantly nodded, "Fine. We'll go look for dear ol' Dad." he said, sarcastically. The time traveler peeked out the top deck to see the other vessels. "We have to go alone, so once we get back to Berserker Island, we'll set sail again." PD tilted his head, "Why can't we bring anyone?" "Because," fD began, "Dad's on an island that the dragons use as a final resting place. It's not meant for any viking to go there, but we'll need to in order to retrieve him."

It did not take long for the ships to dock at Berserker Island. Once everyone had gotten off, Dagur approached Captain Vorg and Herald. "You two are in charge until I return. There's a place that I need to go to and hopefully, it won't take long." Despite looking surprised, they nodded, "Aye, Chief." the two saluted. The young chief took a medium sized boat and hoisted the sail, heading off for this new place. "Oswald didn't even teach us how to sail or navigate...**and yet**," he added, dramatically, "here we are, looking for him. What's this retirement island called anyway?" FD kept his eyes on the map, "It's called Vanaheim and we're headed too far East, start turning North." PD followed the instructions and for a while after this, neither vikings spoke. After almost an hour, the teenaged Dagur interrupted the silence. "Okay, what's the matter with you? I'm never quiet this long unless there's something wrong." The seasoned chief ran a hand over his messy hair, "I can't say all of it, but this doesn't end well in the future. I just hope that there's a happier ending today." He spotted a landmark and pointed to it, "We're almost there. Less than an hour now." The young Dagur was unsure if it were because of the older Berserker's nerves or due to the spirit of the unknown that surrounded the concept of finding Oswald, but he began to feel worried as well.

As Dagur had said, it took less than an hour for the two to dock at Vanaheim. "I don't see his ship." pD said. FD got off the boat, "Don't worry about that. I didn't see it either when I came here." The smaller Berserker anchored the vessel by the island and descended to the land. He halted, seeing large, grey dragons. "Those are Sentinels." fD told him. PD raised a brow, "Sentinels? But they're made of stone. How do they guard anything?" Chuckling, fD replied, "They're made of stone, but they're not immobile. Usually, they're cool with others until it's time to go, but if we help them ward off some scavengers, they'll let us leave." He snapped his fingers in remembrance, "That's the other thing. There are these dragons, Grim Gnashers, they like to prey on the old dragons. Look out for skinny, curly horned dragons that shoot their fangs. If you see them, shoo them away from the island." The new chief nodded, "Should we go to Dad's shelter first? Even if he's out and about, he'll have to return." "No." fD stated, an odd expression in his eyes, "We're already out here, so let's split up and circle the island first. If we don't find him, we can meet back up here and I'll take you to his hut." The two parted ways with the younger Berserker taking the island's west side and the east for the older.

The elder viking walked around Vanaheim, searching for the second time. Much like the first, his stomach was full of knots, but for a different reason than it was originally. _"What if he's already dead?__ I can't see his corpse again."_ Dagur's head lowered, sadly, though he raised it back and emitted a scornful laugh, _"And to think the last time, I was just worried he'd be disappointed in who I'd become."_ The man walked further, his heartbeat racing, _"No, he's probably alive. It hasn't been nearly as long-he practically just left. Little me doesn't even have to feel guilty over never searching for him.__" _At every turn that the viking took, he thought that he saw the former Berserker chief. Dagur's eyes widened with hope as he saw a figure, which turned out to be an oddly shaped tree. Letting out a defeated sigh, he pressed onward. As this occurred, the young Dagur stalked around Vanaheim, grumbling all the while. He spotted a Grim Gnasher and pinned it to a tree with a knife. "I could be leading my people right now if it weren't for Oswald." The chief continued fighting Gnashers and complaining to himself about Oswald until he had scoured the entire west side of the island. He returned to the meet up spot and waited for the older Dagur to arrive.

When the more anxious viking showed up, he saw the lack of Oswald's presence and began walking. "The hut's this way." he informed. The pair went through the center of the island, including in between the ribs of a giant dragon skeleton. "I can't tell you everything, but this dragon is a Bewilderbeast and remember it for later. It's a **very **important species that you'll need to be familiar with in the future." fD told the other viking. PD nodded and stared at how large the reptile had been. When they finally got past it, they saw a hut with a wooden door. PD went closer to it and examined the entrance, "Hm, Berserker ship wood. Guess he was shipwrecked?" He received a nod in response from an ashen faced fD. The elder viking stood a fair distance from the door while pD knocked. No voice sounded from the inside of the hut, so the teenager opened the door and entered. As he did, fD's chest tightened, _"Not again." _he thought. For a moment, he closed his eyes, wishing to see neither the body nor his younger self's reaction. When he heard no reaction either, the chief reopened his eyes and walked nearer. To his amazement, there was no body sprawled on the floor. Dagur's face lit up and he released a breath that he had been holding.

The two Dagurs walked around the hut and saw a couple of drawings on the cave wall. They were of Dagur and his little sister, Heather. PD sensed someone by them and turned to see a muscular viking with a greying, black beard pointing a crossbow at his head. Quickly, the boy raised his hands, peacefully. "Dad, it's me, Dagur." he said, speedily. Oswald kept the weapon pointed, "'Dagger'? Why has a knife come to see me? You've come here to kill me and get my lenses." Confused, pD turned to fD. "What's wrong with him? Did he get poisoned or something?" he questioned. FD squinted at their father, "He shouldn't be poisoned...maybe he has a kind of cabin fever. See if you can reason with him." Dagur looked at his dad, "Why would I try to kill you? Also, I don't know what you're talking about with the lenses." Oswald scowled at him, "Don't play coy with me. No one would come here unless they were looking for something." "Exactly." Dagur agreed, "I came here looking for **you**. Not a lens or lenses." The viking stared into the eyes of the other and grunted. Just in time to avoid being shot, Dagur slid out of the way. Oswald continued to shoot, though also continued to miss. Still, the onslaught of arrows forced the young Berserker out of the hut. Once he was there, he had to jump backwards to maneuver around Grim Gnasher fangs that were being shot at him.

"Give me a break!" he yelled at the dragon. The reptile turned his attention to the wild viking that was pursuing Dagur, flinging teeth at him as well. PD tackled Oswald to the ground, unbeknownst to the former chief, saving him from the attack. For his efforts, Dagur was punched in the face and kicked in the stomach, knocking him off of Oswald. He let out a roar of rage, "That's it!" The viking ran past the Gnasher, slashing its throat, and used the speed to take Oswald off guard. Grabbing him by the back of his neck, the Berserker slammed the older viking's head to the ground. PD glared at the unconscious viking before putting him over one shoulder. At the ship, Dagur tossed Oswald into a lower compartment. "Can't have him trying to drown me on our way back." he reasoned, locking the door from the outside. Hopping back on land, the viking went over to the hut again. "I'm guessing that those lenses are important in the future?" "Yep." The Berserker looked through the objects in the hut and found a lens and a lot of fruit recipes. "Never pegged him for much of a chef. Always made me make everything." pD commented, annoyed, "Is there anything else good in here?" When the answer was no, the two returned back to the shore.

Hoisting the sails, Dagur paused, "Wait, aren't the Sentinels going to prevent us from leaving?" His eyes drifted to the stone creatures. "We might be fine since we don't have any dragons with us." fD realized. Taking no chance, pD let a brisk wind carry them away from the island. An hour later, the two heard Oswald shuffling around. It was not until the vessel reached Berserker Island that the man was released from his holding pin. He was inordinately drowsy and had to be half dragged to his home. It was late enough in the day, though, that none of the other Berserkers were out to see him. If Oswald had been with more of his wits about him, Dagur might have given him some food; however, since that was not the case, the father was plopped onto a chair and allowed to rest. The current chief regarded him almost sadly, "Do you think he'll be back to normal tomorrow?" FD breathed heavily, "I honestly don't know."


	4. Transitioning

The Dagurs were up and about early in the morning. PD glanced at Oswald, who was still very much asleep. "If he wakes up at all today, it won't be until late." he noted. FD agreed, "We have somewhere else to go, but it'd be best to wait for him to get up. That way, if something's wrong, we can be here. In the meantime, we can fix up some things around the island. My experience will come in handy with helping you find what needs to be done." Quietly, the pair left, though it would have taken the Red Death's presence to awaken the sleeping Berserker. The chiefs went around the island, fD examining everything closely. "Okay, here's a spot that I remember needing some changes." They halted by an armory and fD spoke again once they were inside, "See these?" He gestured to a rack of axes, "They're too low. Some kids could come by, grab a few, and end up stabbing somebody by accident." PD took a mental note and they went in search of more issues. After several consecutive problems were found, the young viking asked, "How do you know when something needs fixing? They seemed fine to me." The two fell into step with one another as the elder explained, "When it comes to safety precautions, I basically think about whatever would be fun, then go with the opposite. For instance, **I'd **love to have the fish trading station on the other side of the carnivorous fish lake. That would be a cool challenge. Of course, no one else would and someone would most likely get eaten." PD jotted it down on a scroll and they continued.

A library was their next stop and they entered. FD crossed his arms, expectantly, "Do you see anything wrong?" PD looked around, seeing a fireplace, the entrance, and a multitude of bookshelves. He was about to shake his head no when he came to a realization, "Yeah, I do. Those bookshelves are too close to the fireplace. A couple cinders blow from the doorway and the books could catch on fire, sending the whole place up in flames if it keeps spreading." FD did a slow clap, "From my experiences, most of being a leader is just trying to avoid obstacles and keeping your vikings safe. The safety of the island always comes first. Remember that." For the rest of the day, the two worked to find what needed these modifications. Already, the chief concurred that things were being improved. The actual improvements still needed to be made, however, by the end of the day, it was all mapped out what would be repaired and redone. When the duo eventually returned to the hut, Oswald was still snoring loudly. PD had half a mind to wake him up via a Berserker battle cry, but he was stopped by fD. "Let him rest." the viking instructed, "There's always stuff that can be done around the island while we wait for him." Though visibly unsatisfied, pD did agree to listen and left the man alone. Rolling his eyes, the young Dagur went to his room. Despite Oswald's slumber, the night brought restlessness for the other Berserker chiefs.

For the subsequent seven days, changes were planned and implemented. PD was proud of what they had done and even the most reluctant of his subjects admitted to themselves that he was invoking positive changes for the tribe. In the evening, the two were laughing about their successes of the week. "And, of course, Vorg didn't even notice that yak charging at him." pD chuckled, puffing up, "Lucky for him that his chief was there to-" He trailed off, hearing a grumbling sound. Dagur followed the sound to Oswald's room and found the viking lethargically walking around. Glancing at fD, the boy saw him with a small, genuine smile. When he looked back at Oswald, the Berserker noticed him as well. "Dagur?" he asked, confused. The boy nodded as a small grin formed on his own face, "It's me, Dad." He went over to the viking and helped him get into another chair. "How do you feel?" Oswald rubbed his head, "Like my head hit a boulder." FD shot pD a look, who responded by mouthing "He's exaggerating." Oswald kept going, "Mainly, I'm just wondering how long I was unconscious and what happened." Once he was sitting, pD elaborated. "Well, I found you a week ago on this island with cabin fever, brought you back here, and you've been out between then and right now."

Oswald began looking concerned, "The Grim Gnashers. Did you stop any? An-and the lens?" Dagur nodded, "Got the lens and took care of several Grimmies, though I'll admit that after I found you, the mission was kind of over. The Sentinels still saw me, so they should know which dragons to look out for." The elder Berserker heaved a sigh, "They can'tsee. The Sentinels are blind, so they probably **don't** know which dragons are the issues." He started to frown, "I don't know when they keep up the island yet or if they can die. I wasn't done with that place. Why did you come to get me?" His frown deepened, "I told you to let me take care of business and that I would return when I was done." Dagur clenched his fists, "I didn't **know **that they were blind. Sorry if my eyes were focused on finding you instead on theirs. I came to get you because it had been a while. Plus with your state when I arrived, it looked like that was a good call." The viking's fists unballed and his glare faded, "You looked awful, Dad. You weren't yourself. The fever made you overly aggressive-" Under Oswald's breath, he said, "Then I was crazy like you." Both Dagurs heard him and pD just went quiet, too sure that he would lash out if he were to say anything at all.

Oswald got out of the chair and went to the doorway. Walking out, he felt the breeze of the island and saw groups of his Berserkers. One member of the group saw him and ran over. "Chief!" he said, "Where were you? We feared the worst." Oswald beamed at the worry, "I was just doing some exploring.


	5. A Second Retrieval

Oswald stared blankly at the Berserker. Without a word, he turned and went to his room. PD looked at fD, "You know where Heather is?" The elder pulled out a scroll and showed him, pointing to a landmass not far from theirs. "She lives in a village right here." FD tapped the map as his expression turned unreadable, "It's an interesting place. She's living with loving foster parents there, so you'll have to convince her that it will be better to stay here instead of the home she's used to." PD's expression was more clear and that of regret, "How am I supposed to do that? She'll hate me as soon as she finds out **why** she's been living on a separate Island her whole life." The future Dagur gave him a quick nod, "And that's why you won't be leading with that. You should tell her somewhere down the line, but only after you two have reconnected. It'd be best coming from you when she does learn it, though." The new chief crossed his arms over his chest. FD gave him a warm smile, "Heather won't hate you when she finds out. She'll be mad, yes, but if she could forgive me in my timeline, you two will be able to be close again."

The next morning, pD filled up a ship with supplies and brought several of his Berserkers with him. For this voyage, he was the anxious Dagur. After giving the vikings the coordinates, he paced back and forth in the lower compartments of the vessel. After nearly walking a trench into the deck, the Berserker stopped and plopped down in a chair. "Why did Heather hate you so much in your timeline?" he questioned, trying to distract himself, if moderately. FD bit his lip, "I guess that it won't matter of you know. Only because we're about to find her, though." He sighed, "Of course, I don't know how relevant it is and would prefer to not talk about it." PD leaned forward in his seat, "But if it won't matter, why not tell me? It'll be something to keep in the back of my mind to not do in my future." he reasoned. The older viking scrunched his face, but conceded with a groan, "In my past, your alternate future, I went to Heather's village, but for a different reason." He balked, taking a breath, "I went to get some supplies for my Berserkers and the traders weren't willing to sell it to me because they had heard of several of my...antics with the Berkians. Easily, I could have just turned and left, but I wanted to strike fear into the hearts of the Berkians. It felt necessary to prove a point. A point that was: I was a threat to be taken seriously-not some minor inconvenience that Hiccup and Stoick could ignore. They needed to fear me, so to do this, I.."

The elder chief leaned his head back, then looked up again at his past self. "Sorry, I'm not going into this right now. Just trust me, I deserved her hatred, you don't. It'll work out, however, I'd suggest not having ' I'm your brother' be the first thing out of your mouth." PD's brow rose, "Then what do I say is my reason for coming? Doubt me coming for a chance to hang out with random vikings would be believable." He received a chuckle in reply, "You can say that you're looking for more vikings to trade with. That's the plan that keeps popping into my head." fD stated. Nodding, pD rose from the chair and resumed his trench digging. The trip to the island felt like it flew by them. Before the Berserker knew it, the ship was docking. PD held his breath for a moment, preventing it from rising to a Speed Stinger rate. With steps that were attempted to not be trembly, the chief walked down to the island. Several vikings approached him. "Welcome, stranger. What brings you to our village?" one inquired. The Berserker thought back to the lines that he had been reciting in his head for half an hour, "I'm Dagur, chief of the Berserker tribe, and I'm hoping to expand our trade groups. I came here to see if you all were willing and able to be our partners in this." When he was finished, there was a silence from the others. Dagur was unsure if the quiet could have meant that they were contemplating on how to say yes, or if they were searching for a polite way to decline.

"Um, sure." another viking agreed, uncertainty evident in her voice. Quickly, she changed her tone, "Yes, sorry. We're just a bit surprised that someone wants to trade with us. We definitely could use the extra inventory since we've been harboring a lot of refugees lately." PD looked at her, questioningly, "Refugees?" he echoed. "Yeah. Apparently, Alvin the Treacherous attacked this one island, so a lot of its inhabitants had to flee and now they're living here." the viking informed the Berserker. "We have a lot of trout and have some of the best craftsmen on this side of the archipelago." another viking added, "Can we trade those for some more yak and eggs?" Dagur gave an absent-minded nod of agreement, "That's fine. We'll figure out the kinks." Looking past those vikings, pD tried to see if he could find his sister. "She's not over here." fD stated, "Right now, how about you just start initiating these trades." Less than thrilled, pD complied, taking some supplies off of his ship. "Is this why you had me pack so much?" he asked, carrying a large crate down his boat's ramp. "You got it." fD said, "Now, I'll keep an eye out for Heather. You probably wouldn't recognize her, so I'll tell you when I spot her."

The vikings began inspecting the goods of one another and a few deals were made. FD's eyes scanned the area until he found his target. "Here she comes." the man told pD. "What?" The chief almost spun around, but stopped to not look so suspicious. Heather went by Dagur with a skeptical look in her eyes, "Why are you really here?" she interrogated. The chief kept his cool, "What do you mean? We're trading, see?" He lifted a stuffed rabbit to demonstrate his point. Heather still felt paranoid, "Berserker Island has always had everything that they've needed and you definitely do **not **need trout and arts and crafts. Why waste all this time to come here and give up actually valuable items in exchange for useless ones?" Dagur allowed a smirk, "I have my reasons. Since we're asking questions, I heard about Alvin's attack. Were you one of the vikings affected or were you already here before all of that took place?" Heather glanced again at the stuffed animal, "My parents and I lived there for most of my life. When Alvin brought his Outcasts and attacked, we were just lucky to come out alive. We didn't necessarily **escape**, though." Perplexed, Dagur inquired, "How are you here now then?" The young girl smiled, fondly, at the memory, "I made friends in the vikings on Berk. Alvin had captured my parents and unless I helped him get the object from Berk, he'd kill them and me."

Dagur felt his blood boil in a way that he never had before. "Alvin threatened to kill you?" the Berserker growled. Heather hardly noticed the change of demeanor, "Of course, but Hiccup and the others helped me free my parents from Alvin. We were able to stop him. Still," her eyes turned downcast, "Alvin has all of our belongings, including a priceless family heirloom from my mother." The sound of a voice calling out Heather's name came. Turning, she saw her parents by their home. "The chickens have gotten loose again." Heather's father said. She turned back to Dagur, "I've got to go help catch them. Bye." She started to walk away when he followed, "I have a few pretty good chicken catching techniques that I could show you." Heather chuckled, "Okay, thanks. My hut's right up here." She pointed to a building, "It's the one with the long top." Mentally repeating what he had learned for memory, the Berserker told her, "Just give me a couple of minutes first. There's something that I need to do." Heather gave a nod and continued on her way to the home. The chief returned to his ship and closed the door to his study behind himself. "What are you doing?" fD asked him, "Why do we need to talk?" "Because," pD began, "I want to know if you think I should go get that heirloom back for Heather. I know that it doesn't belong to her **real **mom, but Heather seemed like she cared about her folks a lot. Plus, I could make Alvin pay for what he did."

FD looked at him and shook his head, "No." he told the boy. PD's eyes widened, "What? Why not? I thought that avenging others would fall under that 'be good or else' thing that you keep trying to get me to follow." The older Berserker was unmoving on the subject, "That's not what you need to do. Heather's safe now and so are her parents. Alvin will get what's coming to him when it's his time. Don't try to speed it up." PD frowned, "He tried to kill our little sister." he protested, "You can't expect me to just let that go. He's still out there. What if he comes back and tries something again? He could return, more prepared, and win. All because I decided to be overly forgiving." Sighing, fD said, "You won't be a bad brother for not killing Alvin. From this point on, you can be there for Heather and protect her from various dangers. We just weren't available for this one." A deranged look went into the teenager's eyes, "Did this happen since you've been here? Don't tell me that I went to go retrieve Oswald while my baby sis and her whole island were almost massacred!" A scowl began to form on the other viking's visage, "Don't forget that I'm still you. Heather and her foster parents had already had their encounter with Treachy before I showed up and like I told you earlier, as far back as I could go, I did. I'd never put Dad before Heather. You and I aren't **that **different."

This pacified the Berserker chief, nonetheless, he still looked at the older leader with skepticism in his eyes. "There's something that you're not telling me." FD scoffed, "Make a list. There's enough to fill up a whole scroll. I can't risk messing up the timeline by telling you details of my life, so secrecy is my main practice now ." PD folded his arms, "I kind of get that, but I mean that there's something, in particular, about this instance." He narrowed his eyes, looking deeply into the time traveler's. "This is about more than just not being antagonistic or getting used to being that. This is about me going after Alvin, specifically. You **really **don't want me to. It's so bad, you almost seemed concerned." FD opened his mouth, angrily, and then took a deep breath, "We can discuss this later. Right now, you're passing up an opportunity to bond with the same sister you claim to want to protect." Gesturing to the door, the Berserker shooed him away. He was sent a harsh glare prior to the young chief exiting. Dagur went to the location that Heather had given him and found her out back, chasing various fowls. "It's fun to chase them, but it's not efficient." he told her. The viking girl stopped running and put her hands on her knees, panting. "What would you suggest?" A devilish grin spread across the viking's face as he approached the birds.

The chickens were blissfully ignorant of the Berserker chief's presence and chased one another to their little hearts' content. Shifting his eyes, Dagur saw where the coops were and reached to grab something. Drawing several blades, he threw some in front of different birds, stopping them in their tracks. By doing this, he continued to redirect their paths. Quickly, the avians were herded back into their chicken coop. Heather watched on, amused and impressed. "How'd you come up with that?" she inquired. The chief latched the door on the enclosure for the livestock, "I just like knives. Before, I'd chase chickens around, but someone kept getting upset by me messing with them. I guess because of that, I had to find a faster way to get the job done." He smirked while twirling a knife between his fingers, "Works out nicely now. How good is your aim?" Heather shrugged, "Pretty good, I think. To be honest, I haven't had the chance to throw many weapons before." Dagur handed one to her, "The trick is to see not only where your target is when you're watching it, but where it **will** be too. If you can anticipate correctly, you can either pin it or block it. Just depends on what your goal is." Heather looked between the blade and coop, hesitantly. "Do you want to try?" the chief asked her. Pausing momentarily, she gave a nod of her head.

Dagur smiled and reopened the coop, allowing the birds to run freely again. Heather's eyes darted back and forth as they scurried around she and the Berserker. "Focus on one at a time." he instructed. The younger viking spotted a chicken with bright red flowers on its back and a black chest that reflected green. She tossed the knife at it and missed by a mile. "You need to anticipate further in front of them." Dagur recommended. Heather frowned and tried a couple times again, each time improving. During the last few minutes, she was successfully able to recapture the birds. Running to prevent them from escaping once more, the viking locked them in. The chief clapped, laughing happily, "Well done, Heather!" She smiled, though it faded as her brows furrowed. "You could be pretty good with knives if you wanted to train more. Do you have any favorite weapons yet?" Dagur inquired, bringing Heather out of her thoughts. "Not really. I like axes a lot. The only issue is that I wish they'd have blades on **both **ends." she divulged, "What about you? I'm willing to guess knives?" The Berserker gave a toothy smile, nodding. Heather's eyes diverted from Dagur's for a moment, filled with thoughtfulness. "Um, how come you're a chief already? You don't seem much older than I am." She handed the blade back to him, "I'm not. I ended up becoming chief in the absence of my father, but now I'm the official leader of the Berserkers."

The duo spent the rest of the day just speaking about weapons, various fighting techniques, and whatever odd topic popped into the mind of the deranged youth. At the end of the day, Dagur knew that he was stalling. He kept thinking to himself that he needed to tell Heather who they were, in relation to each other, but he continued to find new things to mention instead. Heather still had something that weighed heavily on her mind. Finally, she spoke on it, "How did you know my name?" "What?" "My name. I never said what it was, but you knew it anyway. You said so right after I was done with the chickens." Dagur bit his lip, _"Guess this is the time to tell her."_ he mused, "Your parents, are they your birth parents?" Heather shook her head. "Right." the chief concurred, "They're not because your birth parents were the chief and chieftess of the Berserker tribe." The young girl stared at him, blankly, "They couldn't be. My adopted family told me that they found me on a boat with a blanket and a horn with a crest on it. If I were the daughter of leaders like that, how would I have gotten lost?" Dagur felt his heartbeat speed up, "Many things have caused the children of rulers to be separated from their homes, but you **are **Oswald the Agreeable's daughter." Heather took a step back and her face conveyed her confusion. "No, I couldn't be. If-if that were true and I were the daughter of the last chief of the Berserkers, then..." she trailed off, eyes meeting Dagur's. "I've really missed you, Sis."

Heather stumbled backwards into a building's wall. "Earlier you asked me why I came here. Well, this was my reason. I wanted to find you. It's been too long an-and I don't expect an answer today, but I wanted you to know that we want you to return to Berserker Island. Your adopted parents are welcome too-they deserve nothing less for taking care of you for so long. I...Dad and I, we just want you back home, Heather." Dagur blurted out. When he was done, the chief looked at her with desperation in his eyes. For what seemed like an eternity, Heather was silent. "This is..something." she eventually told, "For **so long**, I didn't know who I was or where I was from. I assumed that my birth family didn't want me anymore-that they figured getting rid of me was the best option." Emotion was beginning to be heard in the viking's voice, "I love my new parents and don't want to leave them behind. Would they really be welcomed to your island?" Dagur could not nod neither in more reps nor faster than he did after this question, "**Our **island and of course. We have plenty of room and would love to have you all there." For one more time, Heather was quiet for a while, "Okay." she conceded, "I'll go. I want to see Dad, our home, I want to get to know the family that I was taken away from." Tears shone in her eyes and Dagur stepped forward. Stretching out his arms, he engulfed her in a comforting hug.

Late that night, Dagur was back in his ship, smiling at the ceiling. "You win." he told his older self, "You got me our sister back. Tomorrow morning, Heather and I will tell her parents about this and by this time, we'll be home in Berserker Island." Dagur sat upright, "I can tell you right now that I'm going to disagree with some of the things that you tell me to do, but I trust you-or, you could say that I trust myself." he smirked, "But even still, if you **can **tell me something without the world being turned into an apocalypse or whatever, can you just tell me?" FD gave a mild nod, "I suppose. As of tonight, I still can't tell you too much about why I didn't want you to go after Alvin, but I can say a bit. At this point, you just aren't ready. Can you put up a good fight? Yes, better than good, but one false move and you'll be in a world of hurt. One that's not easy to escape from. If it can be avoided, I don't want you going against Alvin by yourself." He smiled, "But anyway, today was productive. I can already recall the happy memories that you'll have with Heather." PD smiled as well, "It'll be great to have Heather back on the island." The boy laid back down and closed his eyes, grinning, "It'll be just like old times."


	6. Home, Sweet Home

The sun rose over the island, shining its joyous light over the land's inhabitants. Dagur was smiling as he left his ship and headed over to Heather's hut. He gave a knock on the door and after a couple seconds, she answered. There was a large grin on her face as well. "Good morning." the chief greeted, "Are you ready?" Heather nodded, opening the door more for the other Berserker to enter. The siblings went to the center of the hut where the girl's parents were. The adults both rose from their seats and gave nods of acknowledgement to their visitor. "Chief Dagur." they said. The chief shook his head, dismissively, "You don't have to call me chief." He smiled again and looked at Heather, "There is something that Heather and I want to tell you." Confusion could not accurately describe how the parents felt as they sat back down. "When Heather was little, she got separated from her birth family. Now, I've finally found her." Though Heather's father was still listening intently, her mother's eyes began to widen in realization. "You two are related?" she asked. Her daughter and the chief bobbed their heads, confirming her thoughts. Heather went over to the two, "He's my brother and said that we could all move to Berserker Island."

Much the same way that their daughter responded, the parents quietly took in the information. They were silent for so long that Heather started to get nervous. "For as long as you could speak, you've spoken about how you wanted to find where you came from." the father stated. Heather's mother nodded, "How could we deny you the chance to find out now?" Smiling, Heather hugged her parents. Once she let them go, they went over to the chief. "If we're going to be family, you should know our names as well. I'm Mia and this is Axel." Dagur shook hands with the couple, "You'll love it on Berserker Island." he promised. Axel glanced around at their hut, "We haven't really had a home since Alvin attacked, so it wouldn't feel like we were leaving much behind." The trio started to pack up their belongings, with the Berserker chief helping them. Due to the majority of the vikings' items having been either pilfered or destroyed, the packing was quickly finished. Dagur was still beaming as he carried a crate to his ship. "I'm guessing the talk went well?" fD inquired, smirking. "What gave it away?" the younger chief laughed, showing off the box. "You know," fD began, "I could have gone with you to talk with them." PD set down the crate and went to grab some more. Whispering, he said, "Yeah, but I figured that Heather and I could handle it."

As PD arranged the last of the boxes, he turned to his older self. "Do you think that Heather will like Berserker Island?" he asked. FD gave him a warm smile, "I really do. She'll probably want a tour after settling in." He took out a knife and started sharpening it, "Now, the question is where do you plan on suggesting they stay? Heather **might **want to stay with you and Dad, but then again, she might want to stay with her other parents-did you get their names?" PD nodded, "Mia and Axel." "Mia and Axel might be fine with her staying with you guys, however, they might be a bit hesitant. All in all, I'd find another hut to put them in and offer up either as an option for Heather." The new chief sighed, then chuckled, "Well at least I don't have to worry about Heather and Dad getting along or not. He loved her with everything he had. That's one of the main things I remember from when she was there." The Berserker went to the deck and called out to his vikings, "Get ready to set sail." They scurried around at the sound of his voice and hoisted the main sails. When the anchor was pulled back onto the vessel, the Berserker ship moved out of the harbor and began heading to the new destination. _"All right." _the chief thought, going back to the lower compartment, _"Two hours before we'll be docking back home." _He ran a hand over his hair, _"I'm not sure if that sounds like too much time or too little."_

Heather and her parents were sitting in another compartment, all contemplating various things. There were so many topics that the young girl wanted to talk about, but none of these conversations seemed suited to be had with her present company. "I'm going to see if I can find Dagur." she alerted Axel and Mia. They gave nods and she exited the room. Dagur had just descended down to the lower areas of the ship when Heather walked past. They both stopped, seeing each other. "Hey, I had a few questions I wanted to ask you. I know that I'll get answers anyway soon, but I can't stop thinking about them." she told her brother. "I'd be cool answering whatever I can. Come on, let's go sit down." Dagur led her to another spacious room and they commenced talking while the time traveler listened. "Will our father recognize me?" Heather inquired. Dagur tapped his chin, "I'm not really sure. I don't want to get your hopes up, but I could see it going either way. It was a long time ago. Heck, I had a hard time recognizing you from how you looked when you were so small." Heather raised a brow, "Wait. How did you know who I was then?" The chief cursed under his breath, "Call it a brother's intuition." His sister looked doubtful, though it did not last long, "Then maybe Dad will have a kind of intuition like that too." she realized. "Whether he can or can't, I want to be able to recognize **him**. What does Dad look like?"

Dagur smiled and grabbed a scroll, "He's got the same dark hair as you. Eyes and smile too." The boy started sketching out their father. The drawing was done speedily, nonetheless well. "Here he is." Dagur handed the scroll over and Heather accepted it, looking at the details. "Yeah, I guess I **do **kind oflook like him. Why did he give up being chief?" The elder Berserker leaned back slightly in his seat, "I took over for Dad because he went exploring not too long ago. While he was gone, the Berserkers needed a leader, so I just filled the position. He's back home now, but decided that he enjoyed the tranquility of not being in charge. That's why I'm still chief." Heather's eyes had not yet left the portrait. "What about our mom? What is she like? Could you draw her too?" FD lowered his eyes, despondently and PD's face clouded over as he took the scroll again and began another sketch. When he was done, he gazed at the drawing for several moments. He shut his eyes and handed the scroll over once more. Heather noticed his reaction and looked at the scroll. "She's gone, isn't she?" she asked. Dagur gave a sad nod of his head, "This is the best description of her features that I can recall. It feels so long ago. Her name was Andrea the Fierce. She was killed after she realized a faulty plan that our Berserkers were about to take part in. To save them, she went in first, exposing it for the trap that it was."

The older Dagur smiled, unhappily, _"I didn't even realize that I was following Mom's lead with the Berkians and Heather back then."_ he mused. PD continued, "That happened a little before you got separated. It took a toll on both Dad and I, including our relationship. To be honest, we weren't all that close before any of this happened either, so try not to be shocked when he and I don't look like pals." Heather agreed and Dagur tried to lighten the mood. "You can't tell since I don't have the colors, but Mom had red hair like me. You really look like her." A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, _"And I've got **her **eyes and smile." _he thought _"__We had the same wildness." _"She was the best, Sis. I wish you could see her when get there." The brother told Heather all about Berserker Island and what to expect when they arrived. As it happens, the two hours went by faster than Dagur could have anticipated. The ship pulled into the Berserker Island harbor and the nerves that Heather felt were evident in her demeanor. Without even having to ask, the chief knew what the matter was. He smiled at her, "Everyone's going to be so happy to see you. Especially Dad. Just trust me on this." He extended his hand and Heather took it. After getting her parents, they all went to the top deck. Heather stopped dead in her tracks, seeing exactly who was on the docks and closest to the ship.

Oswald stared at the viking that was on the ship with glossy eyes. Heather, still frozen, was gently nudged by Dagur to move forward. He moderately dragged her down to the docks and over to their father. As soon as they were in arm's reach of the former chief, Heather regained her movement and hugged the man. Tears flowed freely down Oswald's face while they embraced. "I thought I'd never see you again." he told her, voice cracking. By this time, Heather's eyes were watery as well. "I've imagined this moment my whole life." she divulged, laughing through tears. The Dagurs watched this reunion with smiles on their faces. FD's own eyes were starting to become watery, though he discreetly wiped away a tear. As happy as he was to see this, it hurt him just as much. The sound of wings flapping drew their attention away from his family and the two saw a Terrible Terror flying towards them. The reptile landed in front of the chief and looked at him, expectantly. "That's a Terror mail from Berk. Unravel the scroll from its horn and it'll go back." fD instructed. PD complied and began reading the message. Quietly, so as to not interrupt his sister and father, he read, "'To the chief of the Berserker Tribe, our Berkians found a Skrill frozen in an iceberg. Unfortunately, it escaped and is now in Alvin the Treacherous's possession. Since


	7. Reacclimated

Oswald and Heather eventually stopped hugging and wiped the tears from their eyes. "Where have you been?" the father asked. "I'd been living on this one island before Alvin attacked it. I have some really great foster parents who I managed to escape with." Heather told him. Mia and Axel smiled as they heard this and descended down the ramp to meet the Berserker. "I owe you everything." Oswald told them, clasping their hands in his, "She's my world." Mia looked at Heather, "It was our pleasure." The Berserker beamed, "I have the perfect hut for you both. It's right next to mine, so it'll be easier for Heather to visit you." Dagur nearly face palmed at this and quickly intercepted, seeing the not so comfortable looks on Mia's and Axels' faces. "What he's trying to say is that you all are welcomed at both places. Of course we would love having Heather stay with us, but it makes sense that you would want to get to know us better before that happens." His words eased the minds of the parents and they visibly calmed down. The chief chuckled to himself, _"Future me must be a good influence. Since when do I edit what Dad says?"_ Oswald was just as surprised by this fact. Annoyance trickled its way into the man, though he did not show it in front of the newcomers.

Oswald forced a smile, "Whatever you all wish to do is fine by me." Axel glanced at Mia, "I think we'd mainly like to get settled in first, if that's all right." "Of course. Of course." the former chief speedily stated. He led them to their hut and once they reached it, the Dagurs slipped into their own hut. "What do I do about this scroll?" pD asked, closing the door, "I can't leave Heather. I just found her, but I need to do something. Skrills are too lethal to be in Alvin's clutches." FD stroked his beard, "Maybe Heather will be up for joining? Like you said, we have to respond to this and it'd be better to mention it before you take off." Open for trying, the chief exited the hut and unloaded his ship, putting the boxes in the hut next door. When he was done, he tried to be casual, "So, I just got this dragon letter, telling me that the Berkians found a Skrill, but it got caught by Alvin. I should probably go help get it back. He doesn't really need an electric reptile at his command. I'd understand if you never want to be near Alvin again-" "Not a chance. If there's a way to ruin something for Alvin, I want in." Heather told her brother, eliciting an enormous grin. Dagur laughed, "Our first team up!" He almost hugged her, but tried to keep his cool. Having overheard them, Oswald went over to the two, "You're going to Berk? It's been a while since I've gone. I'll join you." For the second time that day, Dagur surprised himself. This time, it was by was refraining from glowering at this new his father just delivered.

Heather smiled at this, _"This'll be great."_ she thought, _"By the time we're done, I'll have gotten to know both of them."_ "I'll go ask my.." the viking trailed off. Oswald gave her a comforting smile, "It's fine. I don't expect that habit to be broken today. Anyway, they deserve it for all that they've done." Heather nodded, thankful for him being understanding, and went to find Axel and Mia. "Are you sure that you're up for another voyage so soon?" Dagur asked Oswald. The viking turned, "I'm sure and either way, the signing of the treaties was supposed to have happened by now. I need to see what the state is between our lands, now that it's been in your hands." Dagur frowned, "We're still at peace." He recalled something, "I actually have something that I need you to sign." Going back to his hut, Dagur grabbed the treaty and brought it to hand to Oswald. The Berserker turned up his nose as he took the scroll. "I suppose that this was low on your list of things to do?" The chief grumbled, "Kind of was busy trying to find Heather." His eyes widened as he heard Oswald laugh. "Stoick didn't trust you, huh? I bet that he only agreed to sign this if **I **signed the other part. Can't say that I blame him." Dagur let out a low growl and Oswald wrote his signature, "I'll just keep this to give to Stoick, myself." He put the scroll in his pocket and brushed past Dagur, heading through the village.

The Berserker headed down to the docks, but he wanted to find some vikings along with him to Berk. He found Captain Vorg talking to another viking and started approaching them. "...even brought Heather back too." Oswald heard Vorg say. Realizing that his presence had not yet been detected, the Berserker slowed his pace and listened. "Maybe he could actually be a pretty good chief. I mean, he did step up and take charge while Oswald was gone." By now, the viking had heard enough. He went over to the two, pretending to have heard nothing. "We'll be leaving for Berk today and I want the two of you to accompany us." he stated. The man could see in their eyes that they were uncertain. "What's the problem?" Oswald inquired, brows furrowing. Vorg hesitated, though spoke, "It's only that, Dagur told us to keep watch over the island while he's gone. Um, I'm sure that Herald will be going. He went last time." The shock on Oswald's face was abruptly replaced by anger, "I don't ca-" He stopped and bit his tongue, grinning a winning smile, "Sorry. I should have asked before assuming." With that, he turned and went to the ship. Dagur was already on the vessel, as was Herald, when Oswald arrived. The chief noted the scowl that was sent his way and frowned back at Oswald in reply. "Real mature." fD scolded. "He started it." pD whispered. Herald tilted his head, "What did you say, Chief?" Dagur cleared his throat, "Nothing, Herald."

As this ensued, Heather was talking to Axel and Mia. "Mom, Dad." she started, entering the hut. They pivoted to face her, "Yes?" "Dagur received a note from the Berkians that they need help with something." the viking told. Axel pressed for more, "Help with what?" For a split second, Heather considered telling them all that she had learned, _"I can't tell them what I plan on doing." _she thought, _"__They'd think I'm crazy and would make me stay."_ "They need help finding a dragon that escaped. It's really powerful and they don't want it to fall into the wrong hands." she decided to say. The elder vikings glanced at one another before nodding, "You can go." Mia said, "It'll be a nice way to get to know Dagur and Oswald." Heather grinned and hugged them, "Thanks. I'll see you when we get back. Love you!" She hurried out the hut, leaving her parents to think over what they had done. "Do you really think that this is a good idea?" Axel asked. Mia shrugged, "Not sure. She's keeping something from us, I just hope it's not too big. I might be reading this wrong, but I think she'll be safe with that new brother of hers." Her husband agreed and they peeked out the hut door to see as Heather went down to the docks. Once she was out of view, they felt their nerves go into overdrive. "All we can do now is hope their voyage is a safe one." Axel mentioned, holding Mia's hand.

Heather boarded the ship and they set sail. The vikings arrived at Berk shortly and disembarked. Stoick and Hiccup were on the docks again, waiting for the Berserkers. Their eyes widened as Oswald stepped off the vessel, then enlarged when Heather did as well. "Oswald!" Stoick exclaimed, smiling. The Berkian went over to the other chief, "We feared the worst." he told, "Where were you?" Oswald handed him the signed treaty, "On an exhibition of mine. I had an extended stay, but I am back now and wanted to visit." While Hiccup was shocked to see Oswald, seeing his newest friend was the most surprising part of this experience to him. "Heather? What are you doing here?" he asked. The girl went near him, "Well, the vikings that you helped me save last time were my adopted parents. This-" Before she could finish, Hiccup jumped onto it, "Is your birth family. You're Dagur's sister?" Heather smiled, "He found me yesterday and we thought that this would be a good way to spend more time together." All Hiccup could do was congratulate the family on being reunited. "On another note, the more help we get finding this Skrill, the better." Dagur thought of a question that had been nagging him since he read the scroll, "How did it escape? You said it was frozen in an iceberg." Looking sheepish, Hiccup said, "True, but I left it with Snotlout and the twins." The Berserker chief nodded, "Makes sense."

Despite how much Dagur wanted to lay siege to Outcast Island, he remembered how fervently his future self warned him to be covert in their interactions. "By now, Alvin's already captured Skrilly." he said. Hiccup's brow rose, "'Skrilly'?" The chief nodded, "There's been too much time between when it escaped and now. We'd be wasting more time trying to look around instead of just searching Outcast Island. If we're stealthy, we should be able to sneak in and out without being noticed." A twinkle shone in the Berserker's eyes and he turned to his sister, "Heather, you've been on Outcast Island for a while. Can you give us its layout?" She agreed and took out a scroll, drawing what she could recall. "That's all I remember. I think that there's this one spot right...here. Alvin was pretty secretive about it and whenever I went anywhere near it, he'd get paranoid. Not sure what's there, but definitely something that he doesn't want anyone to know about." Heather informed the group. They looked at the drawing and Hiccup spotted a location, "That looks like a back entrance. We could sneak in there." Dagur eyed the spot, "The only problem is that Alvin made sure his back entrance could still let vikings be seen from the West side. My guess is that you'd have to know where to look, but the only real place you could be to see this is..." He scanned the area, "about here. If we have someone on lookout duty, they'd be able to see the Outcasts before they see us."

Hiccup nodded, "We'll be stealthier if we go on the dragons." That said, the Berkian led the Berserker siblings to the training arena. Oswald stayed behind with Stoick, who still was curious about all that occurred. "So, are you resuming being chief now that you've returned?" he asked, having wanted to ask that as soon as he saw the viking. Oswald did not look him directly in the eyes, "I am still thinking about it." Stoick regarded him in askance, "Still thinking? Oswald, your people need a leader and even if that leader is going to be Dagur, he should know." The Berserker sighed, "He **does** know. I told him that he could have the position." Stoick tried to mask his concern, "Well, I guess that's settled then." As much as the chief wanted to support his friend's decision, he could not help the feeling of disagreement. "Are you sure this is in the island's best interest?" he inquired. Oswald shook his head, "I don't even know if he's ready." Another viking joined the duo, "He's got to be a bit ready. He's been leading for however long you've been gone." Gobber stated, going over to them. The fathers simultaneously gave him disbelieving expressions, with Oswald's also being on the side of hurt. "Did you hear about his plan?" the blacksmith asked. Oswald shook his head, "Plan? He's got plans now?" Gobber smiled, "Suggested that we interact in more ways than just these treaties. He said we should help one another out with supplies and things like that. I'm not saying that your concern is unwarranted, but he might not do a bad job as chief. Honestly, the normal goal is for the successor to be even better."

Oswald was rendered speechless by this and looked as though he were in a trance. Stoick put a hand on his shoulder, "I'll say this, Dagur cares about your people and wants the best for you all." That was the most comforting statement the Berkian could conjure. Unable to offer anymore words of solace, the trio also headed down to the arena. In the training center, the Berkians were happily greeting Heather and hesitantly regarding Dagur. "Who's on lookout because I wouldn't mind joining them." Fishlegs told, nervously petting Meatlug and having just been told the strategy. Snotlout rolled his eyes, "More importantly, who's **inside** because the answer should be me." Dagur shook his head, "Not a chance, Snotha-" "Be nice." fD interrupted. "lout." pD finished, with a low grunt, "Heather, Hiccup, Astrid, and I will go inside. You four can stay here." The Jorgenson's jaw dropped, "I'm being left with Fishface and Tweedledumb and Dumber? Hiccup, come on. You know my skills could be better weaponized than this." The heir sided with the chief, "No, Dagur's right. This isn't a mission for barging in. We're sneaking and I just think that you guys would be better suited for alerting us." The twins frowned, "But staring at things is boring." Tuff complained. "And being quiet is worse." Ruff added. Dagur sighed, "Then think about it like a game. Whoever's the quietest and keeps the best watch wins."

The twins' eyes sparkled with intrigue. Ornery smiles grew on their faces and the Thorstons wrung their hands in a scheming manner. "If it is a challenge you want, then challeng**ers** you shall receive!" Tuffnut said, gesticulating wildly. He and Ruff rambled on about who would be the most silent as the vikings took to their dragons' saddles. Heather hopped on Stormfly with Astrid and Hiccup got onto Toothless's back. Dagur stood where he was for a moment before the Berkian motioned for him to come over. "You can ride with me." Hiccup said, warranting a huge smile from the Berserker. Dagur got onto the Night Fury's back, though the vikings did not yet fly. Instead, they saw Oswald, Stoick, and Gobber approaching them. "Riding dragons. It's amazing." Oswald said, looking at the creatures. "I'm coming with you." he added. _"In the tagging along mood, isn't he?" _Dagur thought, annoyed, "This is going to require a lot of stealth. If all goes well, we won't do much more than free the Skrill." Undeterred, the Berserker smiled, "Then it would do no harm in my joining you." Before anyone could protest, the viking hopped onto Hookfang's back. "Hey!" Snotlout frowned. "Actually, it **could** do a lot of harm." Dagur told him, "Dad, you're not stealthy. Why not just stay here? You normally hate getting involved in matters like this."

Indignant, Oswald stayed planted on the Monstrous Nightmare. "I have developed enough stealth while I was gone." Hiccup looked at him, "We have to get going, so I guess Oswald's coming too." Dagur managed to look more upset about this than Snotlout did and the dragons began flying. Something that brought smiles to both of their faces was Oswald's shout of horror when he went into the air. The chief's smile faded as he too felt a twinge of terror; however, he refused to let out a scream as his father had. Clenching onto Toothless's saddle, the Berserker maintained a sense of composure as they flew to Outcast Island. After a half hour, Dagur started to enjoy the flight. They arrived at Outcast Island not too much later and landed in the designated spot. All but Oswald got off of the reptiles. The Berserker moreso fell off of Hookfang and onto the ground, kissing it. Dagur smirked, then peeked around a boulder. Seeing no one, he turned back around, "We're in the clear." To the twins, he said, "Don't forget the game." They saluted playfully, "Never fear. We won't stop until we're the sure fired winners. Can't let any snotty fish have that honor, if you catch my drift." Tuffnut said, winking. Once the four vikings started to move towards the entrance, Oswald rose to his feet and joined them.

The five vikings crept through the opening and stalked along the sides of the cavern. Heather took the lead and brought them to where the dragons were commonly kept. There were a few guards in front of the cells, but the reptile was still visible. Chained to the ground and muzzled, the Skrill snarled at the Outcasts. They glared back at him and one slammed his club against the cell, causing a loud ringing. The dragon prepared to try to blast the vikings, but another Outcast threw a large bucket of water onto it. Dagur looked at the other vikings and each gave an agreeing nod. Dagur and Astrid charged at the guards, each taking out two. After they did, Dagur took their keys and unlocked the door. Quickly, he went to unravel a rope that he had brought with him. Hiccup stopped him, "We don't need that." Calmly, the Berkian went over to the Skrill with one hand extended and the other with the keys to the chains. The dragon backed away, though Hiccup only smiled. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to set you free." The dragon cautiously moved his snout close to the hand, finally making contact.

Hiccup unchained the Skrill and it crawled out into the open. Dagur looked at the dragon and thought about the drawing again. "You all get him out of here. I want to see if I can find out what's in that place that Alvin was trying to keep hidden." he said. Heather stopped, "No, I'll go with you. That way, you definitely know where it is." Oswald glanced between the two and the Berkians, "I'll go too." he decided. Knowing that it was pointless to dissuade him, Dagur simply followed Heather. They had to go past more crowded areas, with the chief being the one to tell them when it was safe to proceed. When they reached the location, they found large eggs. Oswald went over and started to pick one up. "What are you doing? We can't carry all of these and they'll just slow us down." Dagur whispered, harshly. The older Berserker frowned, "It will be one less egg." The two had a mild stare down until Dagur sighed, "Fine." Again, they set off through the cave, but now to leave. The issue was that it was becoming gradually more congested. The same room that they were able to slide past before was filled with Outcasts. _"We'll need to go fast." _Dagur mused. As soon as there was an opening, he motioned for the two to move. He and Heather were able to get to the other side, however the egg's smooth sides made it difficult to have a firm grasp. In his attempt to not drop it, Oswald went too slowly and was seen. Dagur half yoked him up and the three began to run. Heather was in the front with Dagur staying in the back and cutting things to provide obstacles for their pursuers. Just as they had nearly reached the exit, an ax came down mere inches from Heather.

Alvin blocked the exit and had a sickening smirk on his face. "Never thought I'd see you back in here, Heather, and **certainly** not willingly. He raised his weapon and brought it down, causing a clank of his metal clashing with Dagur's. The chief's sword stopped the ax and he swiped it with enough speed to cut the Outcast's arm. Alvin let out a grunt of pain and glared at the Berserker. "That was a dumb move, boy. Now, you'll have to die like the Berkians." The large viking swung his weapon and though his slashes were blocked, Dagur admitted to himself that Alvin was a rather strong individual. _"**Might** not be able to beat him head on like this."_ he realized. Right as fD was about to give a suggestion, pD changed tactics. His movements relied less on force and more on precision and agility. He gave Alvin an onslaught of attacks that forced the Outcast to back up. "Go!" Dagur told the two Berserkers, once there was a clearing. Oswald left, though Heather stayed behind. Dagur almost got in a slice on Alvin's neck, going in for the kill. At the last second, the man moved and threw his arms to the side. The one with the ax swiped the sword from Dagur's hand and the other hit him in the head. The momentum knocked the young viking into the cavern wall and had him dazed for just long enough so that Alvin could gain the upper hand.

Grabbing the Berserker by the neck, he began choking and lifting him off of the ground. Dagur tried in vain to pry off the Outcast's fingers and looked to his future self. FD looked entirely unsure of what to do and tried to look around for things to use. Prior to him finding something, Alvin let out a cry and dropped the boy to the ground. The Outcast fell to his knees and glared behind him. Dagur saw Heather with her brother's weapon and Alvin with a bloodied calf. To prevent him from obtaining the strength to continue, Dagur took Heather's hand and the duo left the cave. The Berkians had stayed and the Berserkers hopped onto the saddles, flying away. On the way back, Dagur could not stop smiling as he thought about his sister. Once they arrived at Berk, the chief went over to her. "Thanks." he said, still grinning. Heather smiled back, "To be honest, Alvin meant to kill me today, so I should be thanking you." The siblings then went to the Great Hall with the Berkians and discussed what would be done with the Skrill. It was decided that they would keep the dragon, although would also receive training from Hiccup so as to avoid it being entirely wild. When they were done, Stoick actually smiled at the young chief. "I think that I've underestimated you, Dagur. You're making a fine leader." The Berserker beamed and the chiefs shook hands on their new deal.

The Berserkers did not dock at their own island until late that night. Heather wished the two a good evening and went to Axel and Mia's hut. "Night Sis." Dagur called after her. When he turned to go to his hut, he saw an odd expression on Oswald's face. "We need to talk." the older viking informed him. Suspicious, Dagur asked, "What about?" Oswald's expression remained the same, "I've been doing some thinking and I just don't like the direction that you've been taking Berserker Island. I've seen the changes that you've made and couldn't disagree more. The final straw was today. Because you wanted to check out the secret hatchery, Heather was almost killed." Hot rage flashed in Dagur's body, "**I **almost got her killed? Maybe you didn't notice, but we were fine until **you **got caught. And how did this happen? Oh yeah, it was because you were running with the same egg I told you would slow us down." The boy's voice turned cold, "I wouldn't expect you to stay for any other reason, but I thought that you would have at least waited for Heather to get out safely before you left." Oswald frowned, "You put her in danger again. You're not mentally stable enough to make the heavy decisions that you need to. There are people in this world that only excel when given a weapon and put on the battlefields-**n****ot **being entrusted with lives."

Dagur regarded him with skepticism snd Oswald kept going. "I'm only ashamed to have waited so long to restore things to the way they always should have been." He looked the younger viking in the eyes, "You're not meant to lead and if I have my way, you never will longer than you already have." Dagur's face paled, "Wh-what are you saying?" Oswald's visage finally altered, turning into a grin, "What I'm saying is that your position as chief has been revoked. Don't try plotting my untimely demise either. **Heather **will be the one with the birthright. I wanted her to have that for so long remember? Now, I can finally make that happen and you can't stop me." He smirked at the now ex chief. "You should be happy. Isn't this why you went to go get me and Heather? Now everything will be just like it used to be." Oswald strode into the hut, leaving a numb Dagur outside to let sink in what just transpired.


	8. A Deal

Dagur stood, eyes looking nowhere in particular, for what seemed like forever. Eventually, he spoke, "Wh-what just happened?" Before the Berserker could receive a reply, he turned to his older self. "I listened to you. Did what you asked me to do with the mindset that it would **benefit **me." Dagur seethed. FD stayed calm, "This was unexpected, but maybe it's..for...the." PD crossed his arms, "You can't even say it and that's because no matter how much you've over romanticized your memories of Dad, you know how it's always been with him." His tone became icelike, "I should've left him on that island." FD's brows furrowed, "No, this is still better." The ex-chief laughed, "Why? Because he's dead in your timeline? Doesn't sound too bad to me right now." The time travelers's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, I know you never told me," pD started, "but I could read between the lines. That's why you were so adamant about me saving him. So adamant to 'fix our future'. Well, how's it looking now?" FD sadly regarded him, "I understand how much being chief means to you." PD gave a small nod, "Then you'll understand why I can't listen to you until you're back with things you remember. If we're in new territory, you can't help me. You've proven this today with Alvin." Embarrassment was evident on the elder viking's face, "I'm sorry for that." PD waved him off, angrily, "Doesn't matter. I'll find a way to be chief again. In fact," a deranged twinkle shone in his eyes, "not only will I prove that they want me as leader, I'll prove that they **need **me."

Dagur strode to his hut with a newfound confidence-one that concerned his future self. "What are you planning?" fD asked. PD gave a smug smirk, "Nothing that you'd approve of and considering what I normally do, you'll complain once you hear it." The older viking frowned, "So you're not going to tell me." PD's smirk got larger and he walked closer to the building. Stopping just as he reached the entrance, Dagur said, "All I've got to do is keep cool for a while. Anything too soon would mess up my plan." He entered the hut with a stressing out Berserker behind him. The night brought no sleep, though much scheming for Dagur. His face was plastered with a grim smile the next morning. "You look..suspicious." fD commented. PD nodded, "Dad's not up yet. Once he is, I'll lose the grin and look more like someone who's just been stripped of the position that they both love and deserve." His tone became harsher as he spoke. Thinking about it more, a scowl was easily formed once the viking did see his father. "Good morning." Oswald greeted, a jolly sound in his voice that infuriated Dagur. "Morning." the boy said back, with a significantly smaller amount of enthusiasm. Oswald went to the hut's door and exited, heading over to Heather's home.

Curious, Dagur peeked out the door and saw where Oswald was going. The viking growled, "And now he's going over to gloat. Heather does **not **need to be the first person to know I'm not chief anymore." He glared at the resumed chief all the way up until Oswald was allowed inside of the home and no longer in plain sight. The man was warmly received by his daughter and her foster parents. He beamed so much in their presence that Heather just had to ask what had happened. Still smiling, he responded, "I have some good news that I wanted you to be the first to hear of." She raised a brow, "What is it?" The man plopped down in a chair as though it were his throne. "You will be able to see your father lead our kingdom from now on and when I'm done, **you **can take my place." he informed the viking. Heather's eyes widened, "Um, wh-what?" Was all she could muster, "But, I thought-" Oswald gave an understanding nod of his head, "You thought that Dagur would be chief." A small smirk appeared on his face as he thought, _"So did he." _Aloud, he stated, "Yes, but things have changed with your return. And they changed for the better, Heather." He looked into her eyes and smiled, "Trust me, you will be a wonderful chief when the time comes. I'll make sure of it." This did ease Heather's worries a bit, though she was still uncertain. "Come with me while I do my runs around the island today. That way, I can start showing you how to be in charge." A smile slowly formed on Heather's face and she nodded, "All right." With agreeing looks from her Axel and Mia, the two left the hut and went into the village.

Dagur had stopped staring at Heather's hut long enough to miss the two exiting. Instead, he was sharpening a blade. "I just don't know how long I should wait." he thought aloud. His older self only grew more wary at these words. As the boy schemed, Oswald and Heather were going to the docks. "An important thing with leading the Berserkers is knowing which traders have the best supplies." the man told her. They looked around at the items that each viking sold. He whispered, "I have a couple of tricks that I've only ever told your mother. Watch." They approached one trader who was selling fish, "Where did you get these?" Oswald asked. The trader replied, "Just eastward of the outskirts of the archipelago." The chief nodded and kept walking by. "What was wrong?" Heather inquired. Her father frowned, "The outskirts are several days away by boat. If he got those from there, the fish aren't fresh." Impressed, the girl continued walking beside him as he went through some more of the faulty traders. Eventually, they found three respectable vendors and went back to their huts with arms full of goods. Oswald went to his hut and saw Dagur sharpening another knife. "We're about to go into the village. There's an announcement that I need to make. Come with us." the man stated, setting down a bag of apples. The young viking kept his face calm, "I've got plans for today. Maybe next time." Oswald did not move and sighed, "That wasn't a question, Dagur. I told you, I have an announcement to make and it's an important one."

Dagur felt more anger boil in his stomach and he let a small amount of the steam out, "Well **excuse me** if I don't want to be there when you tell the whole island I'm not chief anymore." His rage momentarily faded as the Berserker's face saddened, "It was tricky enough to get them to move past their suspicions of me and want my leadership. Now, they'll just assume that all the things they thought were right. Could you not mention me directly?" Oswald took out the contents of the bag, "I've already thought of what I'll say." When the items had been put up, the chief went to the door and looked back at Dagur expectantly. The viking reluctantly followed him out and they went over to Heather before going to the center of the island. Heather wanted to say something of what she had learned in the day, but it all seemed too awkward. She really did not know either of them well enough to want to get involved. Once they reached the center, Oswald climbed onto the podium and cleared his throat, signalling for the attention of his surrounding vikings. They stopped and turned to see what the man would say. As they did, Dagur's stomach formed knots. "Change is a beautiful thing." Oswald began, "It led to my daughter being reunited with us, dragons being trained, and new leadership for you all. Now that I am here, I shall be your chief once more."

"When my reign has come to an end, Heather will be my successor. Even so soon as today, I have begun training her to the best of my abilities to take my place. It has been made clear to me that your current situation needed to be altered and I am glad that I could." Oddly enough, the part about training stung Dagur more than the subtle insult. For years, he had tried to go with his father to study how to be a chief. Every time, Oswald would shoo him away and refuse. The annoying sensation of jealousy tugged at him, though he pushed it away. Oswald said a few more things while he was on stage, mostly more passive aggressive remarks towards the ex-chief that went over the heads of many Berserkers; however, Dagur had stopped listening. Rather than let his mind rest on the concept of being upset with his sister's and father's instantaneous bond, he went back to his plan. Mentally, he imagined commanding his Berserkers in battle. _"This'll be new, but I can do it."_ the viking mused. When Oswald was done speaking, a round of applause began and he descended back to the ground. Without looking at Dagur, he went to Heather and the two went to the Hall to answer the impending questions that were to follow. A voice snapped Dagur out of his thoughts and he turned to see one of the last vikings that he wanted to see.

With a villainous grin, stood Ansson the Abominable. The man seemed to tower over Dagur and was as sturdy as one of the huts. "Ya couldn't cut it as chief, eh Dainty?" he chuckled. Ansson's eyes lit up, "Guess if things are going back to normal, they're going all the way back." he said, his tone becoming sinister. The viking stalked towards the other, who pulled out a knife, "Nothing's going back to that kind of normal." Dagur stated. His older self glared at the other Berserker. In all the years that had passed, he had nearly forgotten how Ansson once was, or at least in build. The viking's bully tendencies had left him long ago, as did his muscularity. The Ansson that Dagur saw again after his return was an eighth of the size of the one he saw before them then. "Really think that you can beat me?" Ansson taunted. Honestly, the two Dagurs highly doubted that. The odds were against the boy. Ansson was a trained soldier and had been starting and winning fights since before Dagur chased his first chicken. On top of this, the Berserker fought dirty. "Besides," he began, "even if you somehow **did **win, resulting in my humiliation, your sister wouldn't do as well." Dagur's face paled as he thought of Heather, making Ansson smile. "The only real way to make sure neither of you are in danger is to not only beat me, but kill me. And we know that **apparently**, you're no killer." Dagur snarled, "You wouldn't attack Heather. She's next in line and you wouldn't want any vengeance to come your way when she's in charge. Plus, Dad won't let you hurt her. You'd be shipped off in pieces before you could even think up a plan." Ansson growled back. For the moment, they were at a standstill.

A smirk tugged at Ansson's lips, "You're probably right. It's good to know that the chief cares about one of his kids. I'll have to get used to that." Shooting a hateful look, Dagur left for the forest. The viking went to what was once a strong tree that was now scratched and nearly destroyed. FD looked at the tree in remembrance, sighing, "Haven't been here in ages." It was a place that he used to go when he was infuriated. Sort of his way to prevent accidentally hurting someone or purposefully doing that and getting in trouble. Viciously, PD attacked the trunk of the tree, slicing it with a blade. "I'm pushing up the time." he said, still slashing, "This time tomorrow, **I'll **be in charge again and there's nothing Oswald can do about it." Dagur let out a deranged laugh before FD interrupted him. "Enough! Whatever you're planning, it can't be good. I came here to prevent us from going down the path of evil and I'm not going to just stand by and watch as you run down it anyway. I don't like to waste my time." He tone was firm and unrelenting, as was his glare, "Now, for the last time, what are you planning?" PD glared back, though let his eyes divert from his older self's. "I'm planning on sneaking back onto Outcast Island and killing Alvin. It's a win win. He can't hurt Heather and with their leader murdered, the Outcasts will attack us." FD rubbed the bridge of his nose, "And why is **that** a win?" "Because when they do, it'll be clear to everyone that the real reason Dad's never declared a war is that he doesn't know how to be chief in one. He's too reserved and when he's afraid to take action, I'll be the one left to lead us to victory."

FD sighed, "It's not worth it. Some of our people could get really hurt in the battle, or killed, just because of your 'ambition'." He could see that he was getting through to his past self and his tone turned more empathizing, "Look, Dad's not the right choice for chief anymore and to be honest, as much as I love Heather, she's not either. We'll find a way to get you back there, but this isn't it. If you want to lead, you need to do it by proving that you deserve it. Not by scheming or killing, but through respect. I still have memories of being chief, so this doesn't need to be permanent. You just need to be patient for once. I'll be here right beside you as we try to figure this out. I get that if it's a new memory, I won't be as much help, but I've still got a lot more experiences than you've had and those can come in handy. What happened with Alvin won't happen again. That just triggered an interesting flashback. We can fix this, though I need you to trust me. We've always had a hard time trusting others, but we've been pretty consistent in trusting our self." He smiled, jokingly. PD paused for a moment, then nodded. "All right." he agreed, "We'll do this together."


	9. Family Drama

The next day, Dagur observed as Oswald and Heather went back out to do some chiefing. They had hardly answered the questions that the Berserkers had for them the prior afternoon, so they spent the majority of the day just doing that. Heather felt bombarded by all of the requests that their people had of them. The two spent hours listening to the curious thoughts of the vikings, with some being more nonsensical than others and some involving much sense. "Are you keeping the same treaty that Dagur proposed to the Berkians?" a Berserker inquired. Oswald tapped his chin, "I've not yet decided." he admitted, "The way things were before allowed for certain peace, but these dragons are unexpected factors. If we grow closer to the Berkians, they can teach us how to train dragons as well." This satisfied the inquisitive viking and another took his place. As the hours rolled into each other, so did the questions. Soon, Heather could hardly tell when one viking began and the next concluded. Finally, she whispered to her father, "I'm going to go get some fresh air. I'll be back in a little bit." Oswald gave a slight nod of his head as she exited the building. Once outside, the young viking leaned against the door. A sight caught her attention and Heather went over to the armory.

Dagur was about to enter the armory with a wheelbarrow filled with weapons. "From chief to transporter." he grumbled to his older self. FD saw Heather approaching, "We've got company." PD stopped and gave a grin. "Hey, Heather." She smiled back, "Hey. I guess a new shipload of weapons came in?" The older Berserker nodded, "Yep. Figured that I'd restock today." In his mind he added, _"Since I don't have anything **else** to do."_ "Mind if I join you?" Heather asked, "I've been shown how to answer questions all day and I feel like my head's going to explode." Keeping all traces of bitterness from his voice, Dagur asked, "Besides that, what are you thinking about the idea of being chief?" He and Heather went inside of the armory and he began to sort the items. "I don't know." his sister divulged, "I never expected this to even be a possibility in my life. To be honest, it's all a bit much. I mean, I don't even really know if I should call him 'Dad' yet and he's already made me his heir." Heather stopped herself, thinking over what she had stated, "I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted was to come back and cause tension between the two of you." Dagur laughed his trademark laugh, invoking an uncomfortable expression from Heather, "Believe me, your arrival didn't make us not get along." He wanted to assure her that all was well in regards to her being the new heir too, but he could not without blantantly lying. Instead, he continued to separate items and categorize them by levels of lethalness.

The brother worked quickly, though barely looked at the weapons. Each time Dagur stared too hard at a blade, he imagined using it to kill Alvin. After the Berserker was done, Heather had to ask. "I'm sorry, but do you have any advice for me with trying to lead? I just don't want to let everybody down." As upset as her brother was, a part of him just could not let Heather feel like she was a disappointment. "You can't only answer questions on your throne." Dagur told her, "You have to go into the village and get to know everyone too. That way, you know how to help our vikings in different situations." He noticed that Heather was not comprehending his point and gave an example. "Like this, I know that the captain of our navy, Captain Vorg, is a great swimmer. Since I do, if we were in a ship and it toppled over, I could focus on getting some onto driftwood or something like that while he helps others. Also, it's probably good for them to realize that you're willing to get your hands dirty and help out around the island." Heather's eyes lit up with an idea, "When I go back to hear more questions, would you go with me? I was thinking that if you tell me a little about the viking who's needing help, I might be able to figure out what to say." Dagur thought about it, "I still have a few things that I wanted to do in the village. But I have been spending all day running around and fixing up stuff. Maybe a break won't hurt too much."

Heather beamed and the duo returned to the building. Oswald's smile at seeing his daughter immediately fell when he saw her company. He did not allow for that to distract him too severely as he resumed answering problems. One shepherd was complaining about his flock not having enough water. Dagur leaned over to Heather, "He loves his flocks like they're his kids and barely goes anywhere without them. And, as a tip, there are areas on the east side of the island that have water after you dig." Heather spoke up, "You could bring them with you while you dig for some water on the east side." The shepherd thanked her and left. For a split second, Oswald looked proud, then he saw a similar expression on Dagur's face. This continued for three more vikings, however, Oswald stopped the fourth and went over to the younger Berserkers. "Dagur, what are you doing in here?" he questioned, "You know that requesting vikings stand on that side and chiefs are here." Dagur glared at Oswald and Heather replied for him, "He's helping me learn about the people." Her father was silent for a moment. "I think we have this taken care of." the chief stated, "What have you been doing all day?" The boy knew where this was going as he reluctantly answered, "Helping out around the village." Oswald smiled, "Wonderful. In that case, there are some boars that might be going feral. How about you go and make sure they're still domesticated pigs?"

Dagur knew full well that there were no wild boars on the island and that this was just a wild dragon chase; however, he also knew that Oswald would just think of a real and quite irritating issue for him to fix if he protested, so he left with relative silence. After the door closed behind him, Oswald turned to Heather, "I understand that your natural inclination is to go to Dagur because he was chief before you, but remember that he had that revoked. His advice is not what you need to fill your head with, Heather. If you have a question, I'd be more than happy to resolve it for you." Slightly frowning, Heather nodded her head. When the next day came, she did the exact opposite of what her father had asked of her. She hid outside of her brother's and father's hut and waited for Oswald to leave. The chief strolled out of his room and went to the main area, a statement preplanned to say. These plans were dashed when he saw that Dagur was not even present. Huffing, he left the hut. Once the man was out of sight, Heather knocked on the door. Receiving no answer, she decided that her brother was gone. _"This makes it a bit harder."_ she thought. Quickly, Heather went around to look for the viking. She eventually found him helping an older Berserker whose livestock had gotten loose from her fence. Several yaks had broken the pillars with their horns and were running gaily.

The boy took great joy in wrangling the mammals as it allowed for some pent up anger to be released. Having put all of the yaks back into the fence, with some repairs to the aforementioned constraints being made, Dagur was thanked and saw that he had an audience. With a small smile, he went over to Heather. "No early morning chiefing today?" he asked. She had an ornery smirk, "Technically, there would have been, but I wanted to come here instead. No matter what was said, the advice you gave me really helped. For the rest of the night, I felt like I actually knew the vikings." It genuinely made Dagur happy to hear that and an idea popped into his head. "I noticed you're not half bad with an ax, but have you had combat training?" Heather shook his head, resulting in a grin from her brother. "Great, then that can be your training. Come along, pupil." he stated, theatrically gesturing for the forest, "Dad can't complain if he doesn't know what to complain about." The two enjoyed an afternoon of sparring and tips, with Heather learning how to knock out a viking with one swipe of a club by the end of the practice. Though she was loath to stop, she did. "I should probably head back now. He'll get suspicious if I don't." They said their goodbyes and the younger Berserker went down to the village. As she reentered, she heard a stern voice. "And where were **you** all day?" Oswald interrogated.

"Just going around the island." she said, innocently. Her father's eyes narrowed, though he dropped the subject. "All that matters is that you're here now. You'll need to learn how to deal with agricultural issues on the island." They went to the farms, with Heather trailing behind. After what seemed like an eternity looking at sheep and seeds, Oswald told her that they would go answer more questions. "How could they have more questions? Haven't we answered everything we possibly could?" she asked, exasperated. Oswald looked appalled, "A chief's work is never done and it isn't always glamorous." Heather looked at the ground, "I don't know if I want this to be my future. Having an entire village rely on you is a lot. Maybe Dagur-" "Can stay out of your head!" Oswald bellowed. He took a breath after seeing Heather's eyes widen and the chief spoke again in a calmer voice, "I can see that you two are getting close, but please be careful." The girl raised a brow, "Why?" "Because he's not well...mentally speaking. I just don't want him to hurt you-or anybody for that matter." A mild frown formed on Heather's face, "I don't think that he would." This concluded with a sigh from Oswald, "Well, though I hope that it would be accidental, he's just too unstable. I didn't really want you to find out this way, but that's why I always knew that he couldn't be leader." A certain word caught her attention, "'Always'? Did you try to give the position to me before?"

Oswald began to speak, however was interrupted by Vorg who had come over to tell him of a collapsing pillar in the Hall. "A fight broke out and the two quarrelers slammed it so hard that it just broke." the Captain informed the chief. Speedily, the three went to stop the trouble, but when they arrived, they saw that the matter was already being handled. It made Dagur's day to see his father's annoyed face at his presence while he helped steady the support beam. FD chuckled as he noticed the same thing, "And we won't be the only ones." he said, "Soon, the other vikings will realize who should be in charge too." When the area was once again safe, Dagur strode out of the hall like the chief he used to be, smiling at his family on the way out. Oswald fought against a growl that was growing in his throat and stayed long enough to let the Berserkers be aware that he had gone to check on them. That evening when Heather went to her house, she went over to Mia and Axel. "What's wrong?" her father asked her. "It's all these chiefly duties." she replied, "Dagur's the one who should really be chief after...him, but everytime I mention it to the chief, he gets mad. It feels like the only reason I'm in line instead is because they don't get along." In all honesty, neither Axel nor Mia were familiar with these types of circumstances to offer the most helpful advice, though they did their best. "Even if you do end up the new chief, we know that you'll be the best you can and that might be just what the Berserkers need." Mia stated, hopefully. Heather was less optimistic, but appreciated the confidence that they had in her.

The next morning, Oswald managed to wake up before Dagur. In actuality, he had never gone to sleep. When he saw the young viking almost leave, he stopped him at the door. "I have a something that I want you to help me with." he grinned, "And you can even spend time with Heather while doing it." Both Dagurs were suspicious of this impending request, though knew they would have to comply. "What do you want me to do?" Oswald opened the door, "Just go down to the docks and get this item." He held up a drawing of a silver fishing hook with bronze at its base. "Here, wouldn't want you to forget what it looks like." He handed it to Dagur, who accepted and then went to Heather's home. "This is a trap if I've ever seen one." he said, under his breath. "Agreed, but we just don't know to what extent." FD said, "Stay alert and be prepared for anything, especially since Heather will be part of it too now." His sister was more than happy to accompany him on the trip and they went down to the docks. Since there were no loose hooks simply laying about, the two asked around if anyone had seen the sought after item. FD went over to his past self and pointed behind him, "Looks like the trap is a pretty bad one." "Aye." a gruff voice called out, "I got your silver hook." Dagur groaned as he turned to see Ansson.

The two glared at each other for a moment before Ansson laughed, "What? Ya don't want your trinket now, Dainty? Ya can have it if ya'd like. All ya got to do is beat me for it. After all, that's always been how we've shared possessions." Dagur stood his ground, "We can resolve this in another way. Besides, your chief wants it. Probably would be considered treason or whatever for you to refuse to give up an object like that." The man shrugged, "I'm willin' to risk it. Look, Dainty, I'm in the mood to fight, so it'll either be against **ya** or your sister there." Hot rage rushed through the young Berserker, "Leave her out of this." "Ooh yeah, 'cause I'm **so **scared of what'll happen if I don't. Face it, Dainty, ya couldn't beat me if your life depended on it. Or hers, for that matter." Like a Monstrous Nightmare, Ansson lunged at Heather, but was intercepted with a tackle. Dagur got back up and went to draw several blades, but stopped. Ansson smirked and held up the knives, "Fast hands remember? Thanks for the ammo, Dainty." He threw them at the viking, but fortunately his aim was not as good as his strength. The older Berserker tried a tackle himself, but was dodged. Dagur sent a fast punch into Ansson's face, making the man see stars. "Whoo. Coulda confused that for a punch made by an actual Berserker." he taunted, kicking his opponent in the side. His eyes shifted to Heather and he drew a club. Ansson was disarmed before it even registered to him what happened.

Bringing his fingers to his mouth, Ansson whistled and a group of equally large Berserkers emerged. Dagur had nearly forgotten about them-Ansson's occasional flunkies. In the off chance that Dagur was doing well in a fight against Ansson, the man would always summon his minions to come to his aid. Dagur was completely surrounded by the vikings. Three on every side of him encroached closer and closer. And on the outside of them, stood Ansson with a killer's twinkle in his eyes, focusing entirely on Heather.


	10. Scapegoat

Dagur looked at the vikings and at Heather. His future self spotted an opening in their circle. "Come out, here." he instructed. Quickly, the young viking obliged, snagging a blade from one of the goons as he left. Ansson stalked towards Heather, who got into a fighting stance. Just as he took his second step, a knife went into his back. The Berserker let out a cry of pain and slumped to the ground; however, Dagur was not yet finished. He pushed the knife in further and twisted it, relishing in the agony it invoked. The blade was removed only to be relocated in Ansson's side. While this ensued, FD saw Heather and how disturbed she looked. With realization dawning, he said, "**This **was the set up. You can't kill Ansson. You have to stop." PD almost turned to glare at him, but recalled that no one else would see the figure. Instead, FD kept talking, "It was a win-win situation for Oswald. Either Ansson would beat you and prove that you're not respected as a viking, let alone a leader, or you would go crazy and show that you're too unstable for leadership. Prove him wrong. Have restraint and don't kill Ansson-no matter how good it might seem." His past self put less pressure on the weapon before looking at Heather. He could see what FD saw and that look of horror was something he was only too well-acquainted with seeing on the faces of others. Despite all worse, or better, judgment, Dagur stopped and rose to his feet.

Painstakingly, Ansson was lifted to his feet by his goons, "A real...Berserker would've...finished what he'd started." he told with disgust in his eyes. The viking was carried off by his cronies while Dagur glared him down. Heather cautiously went towards her brother, "Are you okay?" He grumbled, "Yeah, just annoyed to put it lightly." The viking took a breath to calm himself and closed his eyes for a second. "Thank you." he heard. Reopening his eyes, he looked at his sister. "You knew that I wasn't ready for a fight like that yet and I appreciate you helping me." Heather told him, a grateful smile on her face. Her smile faltered for a moment before it returned with a new confidence. "I think that **you **should be chief. Even if it doesn't happen now, I'll gladly return the position to you once I get it." Dagur's eyes lit up, "You'd really do that?" Heather nodded, "I've seen the way you are with the Berserkers and heard how you talk about them. You deserve to be the leader and the least I can do is not stand in the way of that happening." Beaming, Dagur led Heather back to the Hall, where the siblings found their father. Oswald's eyes briefly opened wide, then he regained his composure. "Heather." he greeted, smiling. Grin fading, he added, "Dagur. I assume that you failed to obtain the fishhook." The boy narrowed his eyes at him and then smirked. Lifting his right hand, he showed the silver hook to the chief.

For a short while, Oswald simply stared at the item, teeming with disbelief. "Y-you got it?" Dagur's smirk did not falter, "Sure did." Panic appeared on the chief's visage, "What happened t-" He stopped and bit his tongue. Through gritted teeth, he stated, "Then I'll take this." He snatched the hook and turned on his heel, going back to the questions had by his vikings. "Come along, Heather. I think that enough of your day has been spent chaperoning." Reluctantly, Heather faced her sibling. "Thanks again." she told him, following after Oswald. All Dagur could do was shake his head and go back to his hut. Once he got inside of the hut, the Berserker looked at his older self. "Thanks for the heads up with Ansson." FD gave a small nod, "No problem with that, but this **does **cause one." He frowned, "If something had gone wrong today, Heather could have been hurt...or-" FD's face paled and he raised a hand to the bridge of his nose, "Well you get the point. If Oswald's willing to let something happen to her too, then there's no telling what he'll do." PD went to his room and began collecting his things, "Agreed. Apparently, I need to protect Heather from him and the only way I can do that is to not have him be onto me. It's about time that I moved out." The future Dagur watched his younger self pack up his weapons for a minute before FD stopped him. "Wait." PD turned his head, "Why?" FD walked over to him, "Because it's too conspicuous. If you leave right now, you'll let him know that you're aware of what he did. A key part of tricking someone is letting them think they've got the upper hand and, right now, I think that means just staying put and acting like nothing's changed."

PD slowed his speed, though did not entirely halt. "Plus if I stay here, I can spy on him." he noted. FD gave a smug grin, "And there are few things that either of us would like better than an opportunity to do that." The young Dagur put his belongings back from whence they came and began pacing. "I need a plan. Heather's only going to be in danger because of Oswald trying to create situations that will turn her against me. There has to be a way to stop him before he can do anything else." "For today," FD began, "what you really need to do is go back out and help out around the island. Show everyone that you're not plotting against Oswald or doing whatever else he might say you are. I'll keep an eye on him while you do that and will let you know what I find out." The two exited the hut and went their separate paths. As the past Dagur found various buildings and vikings that had need of his assistance, future Dagur kept a close eye on Oswald. There was little to spy on as the chief was just in the Hall for the rest of the day. When night fell, Oswald said goodnight to Heather and finally left the building. FD followed him and soon noticed that the man was not going in the direction of his hut. After Oswald reached the hut that he was headed to, he knocked on the door. Several moments passed before it was answered by Ansson.

Prior to the chief even being invited into the home, he brushed past the Berserker. FD went in after him and watched the scene unfold. "What happened?" Oswald questioned, irritated. Ansson tried to not show a limp as he went to a chair and slid down. "I let him win." he lied. Dagur scoffed, "Whatever you need to tell yourself." Oswald was not buying that either. "I told you how this needed to transpire. It was foolproof, but it seems like the fool was me for trusting that you could pull this off." the man stated, glowering. Ansson frowned back at him, "Well this plan wasn't really in my best interest. It only would've worked if I won. The other option was Dagur looking crazy by attacking me." Surprise showed on the chief's face. "Ya didn't know I thought about that part, did ya?" Ansson commented. Oswald's expression turned sour again, "It doesn't matter what the possible outcomes were, none of them should have been what actually did happen." He felt annoyance transition into anger, "And even if we were to ignore the fact that I am your chief, you also **owe **me several well done jobs in payment for me never stopping you from the little 'scuffles' you had with Dagur-something that **anyone **else might have banished you for-" Suddenly, he stopped and had a blank look on his face. Ansson raised a brow at the chief.

"Banished." Oswald repeated, almost absent-mindedly, "How could I never have thought of that?" A wide smile spread across Oswald's face, "I'm going to give you the opportunity to redeem yourself, Ansson. Don't take it lightly." The other Berserker shifted in his seat, "What do ya mean?" Flicking his hand, dismissively, Oswald went towards the door, "I'll let you know later. Wouldn't want you to ruin it by accidentally telling someone." The chief walked out of the building and Dagur stood, dumbfounded. "He's really going to try to do this." Rushing outside, the viking went to find his past counterpart. "Oswald's planning to exile you from Berserker Island." He said once he had found the boy. PD took a step back, stumbling a bit. "What?" he asked, quietly. FD's face showed concern, "I heard him talking to Ansson and he thinks that it's the only way to get rid of you. I don't know how Ansson is involved yet, but neither does he." Nervousness came over PD as he asked, "What can I do? He's chief and technically has the right to do it." Though the older Dagur had known the question was on its way, he still did not feel as though he knew the answer. "Unfortunately, I'd say continue with what you're doing. Chances are, he might get his wish, but if everyone knows that you really are trying to be here for them, Oswald might have some disagreements about his leadership decisions coming his way."

Dagur's nerves quickly turned vicious as his fists balled, "I save him from dying on an island, try to fix what happened with Heather, and he wants to banish me?!" Angrily, he paced back and forth, "By Thor, **every**day I wish that I had left him on Vanaheim." He dug a knife into the wooden table. It took a bit of time for him to cool off, but he did eventually. "When's all this happening?" PD inquired. FD could only shrug, "He wasn't sure yet or at least didn't say so out loud. While you're out, I'll keep track of his visits with Ansson and will make sure his plan doesn't start before you know it's coming." he promised. With a grim nod, the boy left the hut and went back out to try to find some useful activity, preferably one that involved brute force. A week, exactly, went by and each day felt like Dagur's last. It got so bad that he began disliking when he saw his future self. FD only came by to check on him when Oswald and Heather were in the Hall, but everytime he approached PD, the youth thought that he was coming over to deliver the unfortunate news. Dagur was consumed by a familiar type of anxiety. It was the same that he felt when his father had left and he had to take charge of the island, complete and utter uncertainty. He hated it. Though the Berserker was confident that he could take care of himself, it was a different thing from leaving his home and maybe never being allowed to return.

On that seventh day, the news came. Dagur felt a pit in his stomach, nevertheless, stood up straight and with bravado. "What's his plan?" he asked. FD crossed his arms over his chest, "The plan is that Ansson will pretend to be about to assassinate Oswald, then when you save him, Ansson will act like he stopped **you**." PD tilted his head, "So, his scheme relies on me being willing to save his life? That means that he thinks I'll do it." A devilish twinkle sparkled in his eyes, "Maybe I should prove him wrong." FD stayed quiet. The smaller Dagur frowned at him, "What? No chiding about how I can't let him get killed? It's basically assisted suicide, what he's trying to do. So what if I don't play his game? All that'll end with is me as chief. Exactly what I want anyway." His future self's face was expressionless, "Whatever you end up doing, it'll need to be your choice. I've told you all that I know, but the last action has to be something that you're genuinely fine with. Otherwise, it won't really matter." PD sighed and exited the hut, unsure of what he might decide. He went around the island for a little while as he found more vikings to aid. Finally, Dagur made his way to the Hall and saw Ansson spotting him. With a sigh, the younger viking watched as Ansson pulled a crossbow, aiming it at the chief through the slightly open door. As simple as it would have been to do nothing, the ex chief threw a knife into Ansson's hand, knocking the weapon from him. The man let out a cry, then shouted, "Dagur's trying to assassinate the chief!"

The surrounding Berserkers turned their attention to Ansson and what he had said. They had looks of askance on their faces, conveying their confusion. "I came by here to walk and I saw him about to throw a knife at Chief Oswald. All I could do to stop him in time was block it with my hand." Ansson claimed. Dagur scowled, "He's lying. I was walking by and saw him with a crossbow, about to shoot. That's why there's one sprawled out on his right." The vikings looked at the weapon on the ground and Dagur's spirits brightened, seeing that they were believing him over the liar. Oswald and Heather heard the commotion from outside and left the Hall to see what was transpiring. The pair saw the crossbow and Ansson's bloody hand. Heather went to Dagur's side, "Are you okay? What's going on?" Oswald barely concealed his annoyance with her and spoke. "What happened was that Dagur tried to get the throne back. That's why Ansson is bloodied. He tried to stop him." Heather glared at Oswald, "Just last week, Ansson attacked us. If someone here tried to kill you, I think he's the likely culprit." Her father feigned sadness as he shook his head, "Alas, you are too new with knowing Dagur. This is not the first time that he chose being chief over our family, Heather."

Heather was loath to believe Oswald, though inquired, "What are you talking about?" With one passed look from Oswald to Dagur, the young Berserker knew what he was about to say. His face turned ashen as the chief began. "After we lost your mother, I decided that you should be chief instead of Dagur." Eyes narrowing, he glared at the viking. The boy's face pleaded with him to stop, but Oswald continued. "When I told him of this new arrangement, he was furious and stormed out." A sad sigh resonated from the man, "The next thing I knew, you had been sent off of the island on a boat." He let a tear slide down his face, "I thought that I would never see you again, Heather. All because he wanted you out of the way so that **he **could be chief." Dagur's blood boiled, "That is **not **what happened. Yes, I was upset about not being chief anymore, but I'd never try to get rid of you. It was almost a month later that you were lost and it wasn't because I sent you adrift. I knew how much you liked the water, so I was making you a boat that you could use to start learning how to sail." Heather looked at him, "I was a baby. How would I start sailing?" she questioned, temper rising. Her brother said, sheepishly, "It made more sense at the time." Oswald intercepted, "You'd be surprised by how many things 'make sense' to Dagur. Ask your new friends on Berk. They can tell you of how he interprets companionship."

"Thrown knives, being shoved into a cage **and **fed rotten cod heads. These are just examples of the horrors your brother has made others suffer." Oswald hissed. Heather eyed Dagur, suspiciously, "Is this true?" Shamefully, he nodded, "I can't explain it, but it all seemed fine at the time." A second passed before Heather walked over to Oswald, then turned back to face Dagur. The chief fought a grin, "You're just too unstable, Dagur. As far as we know, you thought that Ansson was trying to kill me just as a way to cope with what you were planning. You need to leave Berserker Island. You can't be trusted. You're crazy." The boy's risen spirits sank to the core of the earth. "Heather, I promise you that I tried to keep you and that I didn't try to kill Dad." he said, desperately, "I can deal with leaving the island, but not losing you again." His sister had a cold frown in her face, "I never would have been separated from my family if it weren't for you." she realized, "I think that Dad's right. It's too risky to have someone with your skills and instability on the island." Dagur took a step forward, "Heather-" She turned and walked away before he could say anything more. Oswald stood between the siblings, his expression a harsh stare. The stare softened and a smile tug at the edges of his mouth. He mouthed the words, "I win." and glanced at the Berserker guards. "You may leave by your own accord or by our persuasion."

If Dagur had cared enough to notice the faces of the vikings, he would have felt a bit of solace in seeing that Herald and Vorg looked as disappointed in him leaving as he was. The boy went back to his hut and grabbed his prepared bag of belongings. He wanted to say goodbye to Heather, but could see that she wanted nothing to do with him. Her parents were more forgiving and wished him a safe trip, wherever he went. Along with his future self, the Berserker put everything into a medium-sized ship, like the one that he had traveled to Vanaheim in, and sailed away. As Berserker Island faded out of sight, a lump formed in the boy's throat. "This isn't the future you're trying to avoid, is it?" he asked, hopelessly. FD shook his head, "Not by a long shot." PD let out a scornful laugh, "Hard to imagine it getting much worse than this, but I guess it's possible." He started sharpening a knife, just to stop, annoyed with everything. "What do I do?" was all he could ask. FD stood to look at the open seas, "Right now, what you could use is a friend. Someone that's loyal almost to a fault and there's only one thing available that can fill those requirements." He offered up an encouraging smile, "Are you ready to become a dragon rider?


	11. New Allies

The two Dagurs went North of Berserker Island, the wind filling their sails. "I'm guessing that you have a dragon?" PD asked his companion. FD nodded his head, "Yep, and I don't know if you'll find both around here, but I want us to track one down." The younger viking's curiosity was peaked, "We have **two**? Cool. Can you tell me what kinds of dragons they were?" FD shrugged, nonchalantly, "Doubt it would rip away at the fabric of time itself." he smirked, "My first was a Gronckle." PD scrunched up his face, disapprovingly. "I know. I know." FD laughed, "That wasn't my choice, but he ended up being a great dragon and an even greater friend. Those Gronckles are real sturdy. My second dragon was more your speed. A Triple Stryke." PD just blinked, "A what?" "Oh right. Forgot that you haven't seen one yet. Look for a semi-large dragon with pinchers as front claws, a tail with a stinger, and an orange and brown body. I don't know where he'd be this year, though I'm hoping we can spot him." The boy went to the ship's wheel. "Where should we start looking?" he inquired. FD tapped his chin, "Let's head east. There's an island not too far off from where he was found in my timeline. Maybe that's where he's living now."

Strong breezes aided the Berserkers' journey and the sounds of the waves were tranquil. Amongst the relative silence, pD thought of how he had left his island. All he could see was Heather's disappointed expression. Some of him almost did not believe his older self about the future being more bleak. _"Why would he lie, though about that? Maybe to give me hope. No, we're pretty up front with most things. I don't think I'd change that much."_ he mused to himself. After a short while, the boat pulled up to an island and was docked. The duo looked around the island and saw no dragon that fit the description that fD had given. "What's his name?" pD asked. "Sleuther, but I always called him Strykie. Maybe we can just name him that this time." the time traveler stated. As they scoured, back on Berserker Island, Heather and Oswald were going around. One of their traders approached them and spoke to the chief, "Chief, there's a viking here that wants to speak with you." Curiously, Oswald left Heather's side to find his seeker. The young girl watched him go as her thoughts drifted to her brother.

Berserker Island was becoming a fast home for Heather. She could only imagine how great it would have been had she lived there since the beginning. _"How could Dagur ruin this for me and think that it would be okay?" _the young viking wondered, upset. Heather had always just assumed that she had been unwanted as a child and that was why she lost her family. It was more upsetting to her to know that she was not, but that her chance at happiness had been destroyed by her own flesh and blood. Angrily, the Berserker wandered around the island, eventually coming to the place in the forest where Dagur had begun training her to fight. Despite a small indescribable feeling tingling in her, Heather continued on and returned to the village. When she got back, she saw her father walking away from the docks and went over to him. "What did that one viking want?" she asked. Heather looked behind them to see if she could spot where the person was, though could not see anyone amongst the crowds. "Not much. He just wanted to make a simple deal and I was willing to oblige." Oswald told her. This satisfied the youth and the pair kept walking and talking around the island. Heather had to admit, Oswald seemed almost like a new person since Dagur had left. He was fun to be around, laid-back, did not talk so long about uninteresting matters, nor was he as strict as before. They spent the rest of the day just finding random little things to do and enjoying the time that were spending with one another.

As the Berserker chief and heiress were hanging out, the Dagurs were still looking for Strykie. PD groaned, "Maybe he's just not born yet or something. Was he young when you found him?" FD shook his head, "Not really. He was a seasoned fighter...which probably means he won't be when you find him, but we can be the ones to train him this time." The young Dagur frowned and hoisted the sail, "Can't do much training if we can't even find him." FD pointed to another island, "Let's try that one. I've got a good feeling about it." Rolling his eyes, PD steered the vessel over to the landmass and the two descended. They walked towards the center of the island and began hearing noises. "Doesn't sound like only a dragon, though." pD noted. FD nodded, grimly, "Sounds like a few vikings got too close." They rushed to follow the sound, going past shrubs and caverns. Making the next turn, the duo saw an orange and black dragon, stinging several large vikings with its tail. FD did not know whether to smile or charge because the Triple Stryke was attacking Dragon Hunters. PD was experiencing a similar dilemma, though went with attacking. He threw knives into the sides of the hunters that were not stung. As they collapsed to the ground, several more followed and took note of the newcomer. "They have arrows that can knock you out if you're hit, so watch out." fD admonished.

As if they had heard him, the vikings pointed their bows at Dagur. Quickly, he drew his sword and sliced each arrow that went to him. The boy got closer and closer to the hunters, stabbing one in the stomach. Crying out, the hunter was attempted to be avenged by his allies, but they hardly did a better job. FD watched proudly as his younger self took out the vikings, oftentimes using them to take themselves out. One hunter learned this tactic the hard way when Dagur kept his back to another viking just long enough to provoke an arrow being shot at him, then moved in time for the hunter in front of him to be shot. Soon, all the hunters fell. Dagur smiled at the defeated vikings, taking in the much needed victory. Nearby, the dragon regarded him with intrigue and carefully approached the Berserker. "Hey," the viking said, in a friendly tone. "Put your palm out, but gently." fD instructed. PD complied and the Triple Stryke leaned his head down to meet the hand. Dagur beamed at his future self, but his smile faded as he heard another noise. Both he and the dragon turned to the sound. Going towards it, they saw more hunters, but the last of these dropped too. With risen brows, the two peeked around to see who had done the deed. Standing above the fallen hunters was a viking around pD's age, maybe a year or two older. She was tall, wore a black outfit with gold highlights, had short blond hair, and carried a sword. With a small smile, fD quietly said, "Mala."


	12. Fresh and Old

The two youths were at a standstill. With her weapon pointed at the Berserker, the girl eyed him. "You do not appear as the other hunters do." she noted. Dagur gave a quick nod, "That's because I'm **not** one. I just finished taking out some hunters like you did." He glanced down at the bodies on the ground, "Nice job by the way." A small grin found its way to the other viking's face. "It is clear that I am on the side of the dragons, however, I will need to see the hunters that you vanquished in order to be sure that you are, in fact, against them." she said. Dagur shrugged, "That's fair, I guess." With a grin, he gestured to where the hunters laid, "Right this way." The vikings found the bloodied bodies and the girl sheathed her sword. "Apparently you **are **enemies of the hunters which makes you an ally of mine." She extended her hand, "I am Princess Mala." The Berserker shook it, "I'm Dagur the Deranged." Mala's brow rose, "'The Deranged'? Is that included?" Dagur looked offended, "Well, not originally, but I added it later." He brought back his hand, "What's the matter with it?" Mala shook her head, "I am not sure if it suits you, though I suppose that it does create a smooth flow, Dagur the Deranged."

* * *

Dagur smirked and looked at the Triple Stryke again. At a closer glance, he saw that the reptile was wounded. "He'll need some medical attention." the boy noted. Quickly, Dagur went to the coast of the island and halted, frowning. Mala had followed him and stopped as well. There had been more hunters than Dagur had previously thought and they had destroyed his ship. Inspecting for anything that was unbroken, the viking went to the vessel. "I have a ship. And medicine. We can bring the Triple Stryke back to my island, treat him with the proper care, and provide you with a vessel." Mala offered. The Berserker's eyes lit up, "Thanks! That sounds great." They speedily went to make sure that Mala's boat was still intact and then went to fetch the dragon. It was appearing stressed and she carefully walked up, feeding it some fruit. Immediately, the reptile calmed down and laid on the grass. "Cool fruit." Dagur commented. Mala smiled, then folded her arms, "The only issue will be getting him onto the ship." Her companion shook his head and traveled to the dragon's side, gently helping him stand. "Come on, pal. Gotta work with us." he instructed. Gingerly, the Triple Stryke rose, leaning moreso on the viking than his own legs, and began walking towards the ship. Shortly, he was placed on board and his wounds were bandaged. "I have heard that Triple Strykes have much weight." Mala mentioned, impressed, "It must have been difficult to be gentle as well." "Nothing too bad." Dagur stated. He looked up from the dragon and at the sails of the vessel.

On the sails, there was an insignia that was unfamiliar to Dagur. "Where is your island?" he asked. Mala went to the wheel of the ship. "Defenders of the Wing Island." she stated. The Berserker tilted his head, "I've heard a bit about your island, but not very much. How come you guys stay so discreet?" Giving a small shrug, Mala answered, "I suppose that it is because we have always kept to ourselves. Whenever we do leave, it is normally to go to a market or to find injured dragons." Dagur nodded and the princess peeked over at him. "And what of **your** residency?" she inquired. "I'm from Berserker Island." the viking told her. Curiosity still had a hold on Mala as she continued to speak. "If I am not mistaken, you have the markings of a chief?" Tensing up slightly, Dagur bobbed his head, "Yep." "But you are very young to be a chief." she noticed, "Even though I am next in line, I still have to wait." The Berserker leaned against the side of the ship, "The circumstances were weird, but I got the position earlier than most." Dagur laughed as he thought of the first time that he rehearsed telling his vikings that he was their chief. He had been so nervous and ended up coming across far more aggressive than he had actually intended to. After laughing, he naturally glanced at Mala, expecting an expression of uncomfortableness. When none appeared, he smiled.

The pair and Triple Stryke had a relatively short voyage, with the two teenagers talking all the while. FD just grinned as he watched and listened to them. When they docked at Defenders of the Wing Island, pD helped the dragon get to his feet and descend off of the boat. Dagur noticed the peculiar looks that he was receiving from the Defenders, but understood their surprise and kept going with the reptile. Mala led him to the healing center and once Strykie was settled in, Defenders swarmed over to apply first aid to him. "You weren't kidding." Dagur chuckled, impressed, "You all really are used to helping injured dragons." His eyes traced over the supplies that they used. "You've got everything from Willow Bark to Fire Fern." The sounds of footsteps brought the attention of the two to another person. A tall viking with a reddish-brown ponytail rushed over to them and bowed to Mala. FD let out a quiet chuckle. "Princess, where have you been?" the ponytailed viking asked. "I was looking for new dragons." Mala explained. Standing back up, the boy gave Dagur a skeptical look. Mala gestured to the Berserker, "This is Dagur the Deranged. He and I defeated a group of dragon hunters that were attacking this poor Triple Stryke." She turned to Dagur, "And this is Throk, he is to be the head of the royal guards." Throk nearly blushed, "Well, I am just in training as of now."

"I was told to find you, Princess Mala. The king and queen wish to speak with you." Throk informed her. Mala thanked him for the information and went to find her parents. When she left, Throk eyed Dagur. "You are Dagur the **Deranged**?" he questioned. Though realizing that his nickname was not getting the reaction that he had initially hoped it would, Dagur confirmed what the guard-to-be asked. "My job is to protect the royal family. If in a bout of insanity you harm one of them-" The Berserker shut that down, "I get why you're concerned, but I didn't come here to come after any of you. My ship just got messed up and Mala said I could take one of hers." This satisfied the other youth. He was silent for a couple of moments before starting back up. "Is it true that you aided her in fighting off hunters?" he inquired. "There had to have been several dozen that tried to kill us." Dagur stated. Throk smiled, "I can respect anyone who wins to ensure the safety of a dragon."

As the two spoke, Mala found the king and queen out watching the guard trainees. "I heard that you wanted to speak with me." the princess said, "What is the matter?" Concern was on her face and the queen gave her a reassuring smile. "Nothing is **wrong**, but we became worried when we did not see you this morning." The king agreed, "Mainly, we wanted to tell you to let us know you are searching for injured dragons before you leave. When you go off first, we are unsure whether or not something has happened to you." Mala nodded, "I will inform you prior to me leaving next time." Her parents smiled and glanced back at the trainees who were attacking life-sized dummies. "There is something that I want to inform you of now." the young viking started. The royals turned to her. "I brought someone back with me." Mala said, immediately seeing the widening eyes of her mother and father. "He was trying to help a dragon as well and was quite useful in transporting the Triple Stryke we now have in the infirmary." she added. The queen and king were quiet for a moment. "Who is this viking?" Mala's mother asked. "A Berserker chief. His name is Dagur the Deranged." the girl told them.

The royal parents looked uncertain about the situation. "Where is the chief now?" Mala's father inquired. "He and Throk are speaking by the healing center." Mala stated. Her parents went towards the location and saw their future guard and the Berserker talking. Brows raising, they noticed how uncharacteristically relaxed Throk seemed to be. Dagur noticed the family approaching first and signalled with his eyes to Throk that they were behind him. Turning, the Defender bowed deeply. "My lieges." he greeted. They smiled, though it did not last as they looked at the other viking. "**You **are the Berserker chief?" the queen questioned, doubtfully. Dagur let out a soft sigh, "I was." he confirmed. "Rather young, yes?" the king asked, more to himself than the other viking. "Kind of." Dagur admitted. He thought of his way off the island, "I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to let me use one of your ships to leave. Mine got destroyed in the hunters' attack." The two nodded, "We heard." said the queen, "You are welcome to take one of ours." She looked at the darkening sky, "But it is growing quite late and Berserker Island could not be too close. If you wish, you could stay here for the evening and leave tomorrow."

That idea sounded best to Dagur. Especially because Strykie was still injured. He agreed to the plan and thanked the royals before Mala went over to him. "While you are here, I can give you a tour." she suggested, leading him with her arm wrapped around his. They walked everywhere on the island. Halfway through, Mala mentioned, "You said that you **were **chief. What happened?" The boy bit his lip, "I guess you could say that I was acting chief, but it was just temporary." He changed the subject, "I'm hoping that Strykie's feeling better soon so that he can fly. It'll be cool to learn how to ride on him." The princess appeared horrified. "What? Dragon are not meant to be ridden." she told, becoming upset. "If he really refuses to learn how, I won't push it too much, but it's worth a shot." Mala still was unconvinced. "It would be to disrespect dragons, to ride on them." Dagur made a face, "Gotta lighten up, Mala and be creative. Imagine the world over the ground." He pointed a far distance away at the ocean. "You couldn't ride so much higher up. You can't tell me that you'd never want to fly." The Berserker could see that Mala was thinking about flight, despite not wishing to visibly show her consideration on the matter. Dagur smirked, "Can't tell me that you won't ever want to be lifted off of the grass and just float." As he spoke, the Berserker scooped Mala up from the legs and held her in a bridal position.

The two looked at one another before Dagur put her back down, a slight blush going over his cheeks. "Sorry." he said. Mala ran a hand over her hair to pull notice away from her own reddening cheeks, "Well, I suppose we should not make a habit of that." she said, briskly. The princess glanced back at Dagur. "Is it necessary that you return to Berserker Island soon? I was thinking that maybe you could stay a little while longer...just to make sure that the Triple Stryke is fine. Perhaps, he will let you ride on his back." she suggested. Dagur grinned, "I don't really have any place to be. I definitely can stay." Containing her unexplainable excitement, Mala nodded her head. "Very well. I should show you to your hut so that you might make yourself comfortable." They went into the village and Mala showed Dagur a nice sized hut. "This is great." he commented. Another short lapse of silence followed and the Berserker awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well, thanks again for letting me stay here." "Think nothing of it." the Defender said, slowing beginning to walk away. Dagur tapped his foot, "You know," he began, catching Mala prior to her being out of earshot, "if you don't have many plans for tomorrow, I don't either. Not sure what we'd do, but maybe we could hang out again?" A smile formed on Mala's face, then she calmed her expression as she turned back around. "I would enjoy that. Have a good evening." she said, regally. The Berserker entered the hut, beaming so much that he did not even observe fD's large smile.

The next day on Berserker Island, Oswald and Heather were enjoying breakfast when a knock sounded on the door. The father went to answer it and saw Captain Vorg. "Chief, the viking from before on the docks has returned to speak with you again. I tried to dissuade him, but he was very emphatic." the viking told. Oswald sighed and thanked the captain for the information. "Excuse me, Heather." he said, "It appears as though I will have to deal with someone this morning." Irritably, the chief left his home and went to the docks. He brushed past the viking who had asked to speak with him before, opening the door to another building. "If you wish to speak, let's talk in there." he stated. The large newcomer grunted and entered. "So, why did you come back?" Oswald questioned, impatiently. The other viking glared, "You broke our deal." he accused. Oswald's brow rose, "I did nothing of the sort. Ask anyone, no one has left this island except to go fishing." Furiously, the other man slammed down a piece of a torn sail onto the table. "**This **was found at the scene were dozens of my vikings were killed. It's from a Berserker ship, so don't pretend you weren't there." Oswald looked at the strip of sail and heaved a deep breath. "I was not there nor were any of my people, but I know who was." He received a glower from his company. "You better fix this or else I'll consider it as a revoked deal and I doubt you'd want that."

The chief's demeanor turned deadly. "This is my island, Ryker, and I don't take kindly to threats. I only made a deal with you since I have no reason to oppose you as it is and don't want your thugs trying to get in the way of the peace that we've had for so long. I'll deal with this issue, but for a reason other than your order. If you have a problem with that, we can resolve it in the arena." The hunter and chief stared each other down, though the chief outlasted the other man. "Fine." Ryker consented, "Don't care how or why you get rid of this issue as long it gets done." He left the hut and made his way back to his ship. Frowning after him, Oswald found Heather. "Sweetie," he started, "I need to make a quick voyage, but I'll be back." Before Heather could ask any questions, her father was getting onto a ship and setting sail. While the chief sailed, Dagur and Mala were tending to Strykie. The princess patted the dragon's head. "Are you looking forward to being queen?" the Berserker asked. Mala pursed her lips, "I am not sure. Part of me is excited to lead and get another part is worried that I will not do well. Were you anxious before becoming chief?" Dagur let a quick laugh, "Totally."

"As leader, all responsibilities fall to you. How did you become more comfortable with them?" Mala inquired. Dagur sat down by Strykie. "Just time really. The more I did, the more natural it felt." He smirked, "But you should've seen me when I first started. I wanted respect so badly that I settled for my vikings fearing me too." The princess titled her head. "Deranged, to be feared, you simply do not seem so bad to me." she divulged. "I have seen our own subjects treat dragons with less compassion that you have between this day and the last. Perhaps, your Berserkers were too hasty in your judgement. If dragons judge you well, I must concur." The Berserker laughed, "Well, thanks for the good judging, Strykie." Mala joined in on the chuckling. The day was a peaceful one. Mala and Dagur went around the island and spoke about leadership and the challenges that arose with the position. Everything was seeming fine, but Strykie was healing faster than expected. Though both of the youths were happy about the Triple Stryke's health, they knew that it meant that Dagur would be leaving soon.

That evening, Dagur was pensive. "What's on your mind?" fD asked. "Don't you already know the answer?" pD retorted. "Yeah, but I figured you could use a more normal sounding conversation." fD replied back. PD sighed, "If nothing changes, Strykie will be all set to go by tomorrow and for some reason, I'm not ready yet." He frowned, "There's something about Mala that I really like. I don't know why, but I want to stay here longer and get to know her more. It's been surprisingly great staying." Noticing fD's smile, pF asked, "Are we together in the future? Nevermind, I know you won't say anything." FD laughed, "Just ask to stay longer. From what I've seen, Mala's no more excited for your departure date than you are." PD thought about it, "Maybe. I don't want to overstay my welcome and I doubt that the king and queen would appreciate me leaving with Mala." The future Dagur chuckled, "I'd agree. If the situation today flows into you staying, bring it up." PD gave a small nod and went to his room. When morning came, the Dagurs went down to the healing center to check on their dragon. He was completely healed and nuzzled his head against Dagur's hand. "Hey, little buddy." the Berserker greeted, "Feeling better, huh?" In reply, Strykie did a spin in the air.

When the reptile landed, he rose his tail over Dagur's head and looked at him expectantly. The boy's face lit up and he grabbed hold of the tail, being lifted onto Strykie's back. "Now, how do you do this?" he asked his older self. "Keep holding onto his horns, but just tightly enough to not fall off. You're going to have to work with Strykie. If he's going right, trust him and don't try to pull another direction. That's a start." fD instructed. Strykie carefully flew upwards, cautious of the rider on him. The duo did a few rounds around the island and returned to the center. When they got back, they saw that Mala was exiting. She stopped, hearing them. Her eyes widened when she turned, then she smiled. "I suppose that Strykie has agreed to your plans?" She received an elated nod in response. "Want to come along?" Dagur offered. So much of Mala was trying to convince her to stay, but she walked up and accepted the outstretched hand. Dagur pulled her up behind him. "You might want to hold on." he suggested. Timidly, Mala wrapped her arms around him and the trio went airborne. The princess held on tighter and buried her face in the Berserker's back. "It's all right. The takeoff is sometimes the worst part." Dagur stated, gently holding her hand.

Once they had been in the sky for a bit, Dagur said, "Look up." Mala hesitantly did and saw her island in a way that she never had before. "I've not imagined how different it could appear." she admitted. They flew for a while longer before finally going back. Dagur hopped off of Strykie and helped Mala down, lifting her by the waist. Her joyful expression turned morose. "Does this mean that you will leave?" she asked. The Berserker glanced around them. "If I'm being honest, I don't really want to." Mala beamed, "Then you are welcome to stay." Her face dropped once more, "Though, surely your Berserkers will need you. Even if you are no longer chief." Dagur was about to tell her that the issue of him returning was a non-factor when a Terrible Terror flew over to them. "Peculiar." Mala noted, observing the piece of paper attached to its horn. "Not so much. My friend started this dragon messaging system." Dagur mentioned. He took the letter and unfolded the scroll. His face paled as he read and he jumped back onto Strykie's back. "What happened?" Mala asked, quickly. "Berserker Island got attacked yesterday. I need to make sure my family's-" he stopped, looking at Mala. "I'll be back after we rebuild with hopefully good news." "Good luck." she wished him, sincerely. The viking and dragon took to the sky. "Something's off." fD said, "I don't remember there being any attack."

He looked at the note, "This is in Dad's hand, but how did he get to a Terrible Terror?" PD shrugged, "Probably just caught one that was on the island." FD shook his head, "Dragons can't land on every part of the island." He got side-eyed by his younger self, "Why not?" "There's this dragon that lives in the center of the island. It messes with the minds of the other dragons to protect itself. Unless Oswald was standing on the top of the island, something he wouldn't have known to do, there's no way that he could have gotten this on a Terrible Terror." Dagur bit his lip, "But what if there really **was **an attack? I can't risk it. Heather could be hurt or worse. I need to make sure she's okay." They flew closer to Berserker Island and were about to approach the docks when they heard roars. Several Whispering Deaths were behind them. "Turn right." fD told. PD had Strykie turn before going closer to Berserker Island. The Triple Stryke blasted at the other dragons and flew past them. Going further, they saw ships. A net was catapulted at the dragon and he cut it with his claws, going through.

Arrows were blasted at the two, the Whispering Death numbers increased, and boulders and nets were catapulted. Strykie began to tire out and there was nowhere to go. Even the vikings themselves were well-guarded against any and all thrown blades, wearing complete armor. Eventually, a net shot them out of the sky and they fell into the ocean. Dagur cut the ropes around them and they tried to go back to the surface. As they began to emerge, a boulder knocked into them. Strykie was knocked unconscious and Dagur began dragging him up. Painstakingly, he brought him out of the water and managed to get the dragon to land. Hiding him between rocks and bushes, the exhausted viking turned to his older counterpart. "I can't fight off a whole fleet." he admitted, looking at his new reptilian friend. "The most I can do is draw their fire away from Strykie so at least one of us can get out." FD looked around them, "You'll need more ammo than what you've got. Over there," he pointed, "collect some of the rocks." PD gathered the items and left Strykie's side. A ship came close to the island and Dagur threw a rock onto the deck from the backside. "They're over there!" a viking called, going to the wrong spot.

Dagur sensed someone behind him and moved in time to avoid an arrow. An onslaught of them were fired and he took cover behind a boulder. The ground beneath him crumbled as Whispering Deaths burrowed and the boy dug a knife into the dirt, clinging onto it to prevent falling into the dragons' open mouths. A mild sting in his back let him know that he had been shot by an arrow. Grogginess came over him, but he still clung to the small amount of remaining ground around him. He felt someone peering down over top of him and a rough hand grabbed him by the throat. The Berserker was lifted back onto solid ground and thrown over to a group of vikings, who forced him down to his knees. He tried to rise and fight them, combatting the tranquilizer as well. When he did, the viking that had tossed him clubbed him in the side.


	13. Outcasted

Several Outcasts brought Dagur on board one of their ships and went down into the lower compartments. The Berserker was pushed into a cell and the door was locked. "You'll have a proper prison once we've docked back at Outcast Island." Alvin told. The prisoner tried to shake away the fatigue from the tranquilizer. "What..did you do to my family?" he questioned. Alvin smirked and returned to the upper deck. As he did, Dagur looked around the cell. "If I can find something, maybe I can break out." he said, hoping to spot a useful item. When he was unable to see anything, the Berserker stopped and grunted. "If I end up on Outcast Island, I might be able to break out there and see where everyone's being held captive." He turned to look at FD, "Well, do you have any suggestions?" he asked, roughly. PD's frown softened when he saw fD's pale expression. "This happened to you too, didn't it?" The future Dagur nodded, "But, it shouldn't have happened in this timeline. We don't deserve it." he said, quietly. He started shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Why hasn't it changed?" PD got concerned, "Hey, things might be a bit different." he stated. FD took a deep breath and looked between the cell bars. "Let's hope so, but if not, you need to start mentally preparing yourself for anything."

A half an hour passed before Strykie awoke. Groggily, he emerged from his hiding place, then remembered what had occurred. In a fully aware mode, the Triple Stryke readied his tail for an attack, though realized that there were no vikings around anymore. Strykie unfolded his wings and rose high above the clouds, heading in the direction of Defenders of the Wing Island. On the island, Mala was worriedly walking around the island. _"What if the damage on the island was too severe and everyone was killed?" _she wondered, _"Dagur would be devastated." _On her way past the village for the fifth time, Mala was spotted by her parents. "You look troubled, Mala." the queen noted, "What is the matter?" Mala frowned, "A Terrible Terror flew in with a scroll attached to its horn and Dagur saw that it had a message saying that his home had been attacked. He left to make sure his family was safe and I cannot shake a foreboding feeling." The royals looked to one another for an answer. Neither thinking of one, the king said, "I am sure that his family is safe. Berserkers are known for their ferocity in battle. It is unlikely that they would have easily fallen." Mala felt slightly comforted by this, but still uneasy. "I suppose you are correct. For now, I am going to the arena to train." she informed the two.

Mala spent the remainder of the day in the arena, fighting against practice dummies and praying for Dagur's safe return. As she trained and Strykie flew, more dragons were in the sky. Near Berk, the dragon riders were exploring. "I'm sure that we'll find a new dragon this time." Hiccup said, excitedly. He and Toothless flew ahead of the other Berkians and the heir pointed to some scattered islands. "Let's split up, so we can cover more ground." Hiccup told. The group did as he said and within a minute, Fishlegs and Meatlug came rushing back. "Wow," Tuff started, "I don't think you even landed before finding another dragon. Well done, Fishy, well done." The twins slow clapped the Ingerman, who looked distressed. "Fishlegs, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked him, patting Toothless who had become anxious. "Meatlug and I went to where some of the islands used to be, but they were all destroyed!" Fishlegs said, panicking, "Their structure was fine before. There's no way they should have just collapsed." Hiccup nodded, morosely, "Which probably means something or someone **helped** them collapse." He face palmed, "The Whispering Deaths on Outcast Island. Alvin still has them and from the looks of it, was training them." The boy's brow furrowed, "But if the Whispering Deaths could do this kind of damage, why hasn't Alvin used them on us yet?"

Just to be on the safe side, the Berkians returned to their island. When they saw neither Outcasts nor Whispering Deaths, the teenagers were perplexed. "I wonder if that little egg Oswald tried to steal is big too." Tuffnut thought aloud. Hiccup's eyes widened, "The Outcasts are going to go after the Berserkers because they were the last ones seen on Outcast Island. We have to get there first and warn them." The riders flew off towards Berserker Island, being miles away from the Triple Stryke. It was evening when the dragon finally arrived at Defenders of the Wing Island. He zoomed around the island, looking for Mala. The princess was still in the arena and thought that she was seeing things when the reptile landed before her. "Strykie?" she greeted, confused, "Where is Dagur?" Strykie began to act very stressed and offered his tail for her to grab onto. Quickly, the Defender realized the issue and held on, being placed on the dragon's back. The duo zipped off Defenders of the Wing Island and headed to Berserker Island. The entire flight had Mala's stomach in knots. _"I **knew **something was wrong. I should have done something sooner or gone with him."_ she mentally chided.

The evening brought many arrivals. For the Outcasts and their prisoner, the night saw them dock at Outcast Island. Dagur knew that he was going to be moved, but contemplated whether or nor he would use that time to try to escape. The boy decided against it, realizing that there were too many Outcasts and he would still have to go to the prison to find his family anyway. Several large Outcasts went down to the holding cell and unlocked the chains from the ground. They held the chains in their hands and used them to keep Dagur from going anywhere they did not want him to. Getting onto the dock, the vikings went inward on the island and over to the cave that had held the Whispering Deaths. Down they went, until finally reaching the cells. These cells were lit by only a couple of torches, had an annoying dripping sound coming from the ceiling, reeked, and yet there was one particularly disturbing thing about them to Dagur. None of the cells had any of his Berserkers, let alone sister or father. "Where are you keeping them?" he growled. The Outcasts only kept going, trying to push the viking into a cell. Dagur's temper flared and he stood his ground.

Moving quickly, the Berserker yoked one chain out of an Outcast's hand. The people still had on armor, but the momentum of the chain being rammed into them caused the vikings to fall into each other. Dagur targeted the Outcast he had seen with the key and whipped a chain around to knock him out. As the viking fell, Dagur snatched the key. When he went to unlock the chains, he heard fD call out a warning. Alvin rose his sword over his head and Dagur side-stepped him. Going again to speedily unlock the chains, the Berserker was stopped by Alvin's blade hitting them away. Next, Alvin grabbed hold of a chain as it whizzed by his head. He began pulling in Dagur, who struggled to keep the distance between them. When Dagur was in arm's reach, Alvin put him in a choke hold. "Looks like some of that energy needs to be fixed." he commented. The Outcast went out of the prison, still choking the Berserker, and stopped by a pit. Alvin attached the chains to another pair, extending them, and tied them near where he was standing. Dagur was thrown down the ditch, being relieved by the oxygen and distressed by the new situation. In the echoes of the cavern, Dagur could hear Alvin cackling.

Another sound soon replaced Alvin's laughter. Dagur looked around as he heard quiet growls grow louder. Several Whispering Deaths lunged at the viking. Dagur tried to pull at the chains, but could not budge them. Seeing the futility, he ducked in time to avoid getting his head bitten off. Another dragon turned sharply and hit him in the side with its tail. With the wind knocked out of him, Dagur looked for something to kick at them. "Does being calm with these dragons ever work?" he asked his older self, worriedly. "Not really. You'd have to find some way to make them owe you a favor. That's the only way to get these reptiles on your side." fD told, looking around for things too. PD grunted and yelped as a Whispering Death's face came by his. Dagur reeled back his head, but two dragon teeth got him. They went down over his eye and by his cheekbone. Not yet done, the dragon bit at him again, but was kicked under its chin. The reptile sulked away, whimpering. Despite that dragon's bloodlust being tempered, the other two became agitated at their companion's pain and grew vengeful. They rammed their heads into the viking, delivering cuts on his arms and body. After a few minutes, they stopped and flew away. Dagur eyed them, hesitantly, and panic flashed over his face as they charged, mouths open. Their fangs hovered in front of Dagur, but he was yoked into the air before he could get eaten.

An amused smirk was on Alvin's face as he finished pulling up Dagur. "Didn't think I'd let you get eaten, did you?" the Outcast inquired, "Not this time at least." he added, cruelly. He looked at Dagur, almost laughing. Alvin roughly grabbed the Berserker's chin, inspecting the deep cuts. "Now that they've had a taste, they'll try twice as hard next time." he informed. Alvin took a knife and fiddled with it in his other hand before bringing it by the lacerations. "And we'd hate to have you return to their den." The man placed the blade on Dagur's temple and dug in, trailing down until reaching the boy's chin. Once he had finished, Alvin dragged Dagur back to the prison and locked him up in a cell. The Berserker groaned, "You're one to gloat, Al, so why not tell me where everyone is?" Alvin looked at him, "Oh it **is **tempting, but I made a deal. Of course, I've always been one to break those. Didn't get my moniker for fair play. I'll tell ya where your family is." As the two were there, Mala was arriving at Berserker Island. Just as she did, she saw a group of other vikings on dragons. The princess was automatically skeptical, but they spoke first.

"Who are you?" Hiccup asked. "And more importantly," Snotlout began, "why are **you **riding a dragon?!" Mala frowned, "I am Princess Mala and am on a dragon because I am here to ensure the wellbeing of the Berserkers." The Berkians' brows rose. "You know the Berserkers?" Hiccup inquired. "Only Dagur." the Defender admitted. "That's why we're here too." Hiccup told her, "We have reason to think they're in danger." Mala nodded, "They already were. They were attacked. I came to find survivors and provide ai-" "Wait, they've already been attacked? We've got to get down there." The Berkian heir and Toothless dove to the island, being closely followed by Strykie. Right by the island, the dragons stopped and shook their heads. "What's going on?" Astrid asked. Toothless was doing no better than the others. "I'm not sure. Let's try to go higher up." Hiccup suggested. The group landed on a higher part of the island and checked their dragons. Seeing that they were okay, Mala rushed down the landscape to find Dagur. When she heard someone, she hid near a boulder, then lunged out with her sword drawn. "Woah!" the viking exclaimed, drawing his own weapon in defense. The Berkians came up behind Mala. "Stop!" Hiccup told her. "Why?" she asked, harshly. Hiccup looked between her and her attackee. "Because, this is Oswald the Agreeable, Dagur's father."


	14. Hope

Mala pointed her sword at Oswald. "**You **are Dagur's father?" she asked, "That would not make any sense." The Berkians looked baffled. "And why wouldn't it?" Hiccup asked. "Because Dagur received a letter, saying that Berserker Island had been attacked. I would assume the entire note to have been a fake, had it not been written in his father's hand." Mala told him. The chief's eyes widened for a second. "That's impossible." he said, "I don't even know where he's been. How could I have sent him a message?" Hiccup glanced at him. "Wait, where he's been? Dagur hasn't been here?" he inquired. Oswald eyed Mala, "Well, he had to have gone somewhere to meet her." The Berkian relaxed at that. "Right." he quietly commented. Mala frowned, "The matter of where he has been is of little relevance now. Dagur left my island to help you all. If your island is undamaged and he is not here, then clearly the letter was a trap and he is in danger." Hiccup looked between the princess and chief and began going down the hill. "Where are you going?" Astrid asked him. The boy kept walking, "To find Heather. She might be able to tell us something that can help."

The vikings went down to the village and found Heather talking to some of the other Berserkers. Her eyes lit up when she saw the Berkians and she rushed over to them, smiling. "I didn't know you guys were coming." she said, giving Astrid a hug. The Berkian warrior pursed her lips, "Unfortunately, it's not a social visit." Hiccup nodded, "We saw some evidence that Alvin was training the Whispering Deaths and thought that he might attack here. When we realized that he hadn't, we thought that Dagur might have been caught." The young viking frowned, "Sorry, but I'm not sure where he could've gotten captured. I have no idea where he's been." Mala spoke up, "We know where he was. He was on his way back here." Heather looked shocked, "He was coming **here**? Why would he do that?" The princess eyed her, "He was coming because a note that Dagur thought was written by Oswald said you all had been laid siege to." The Berserker's shock took on a mild hint of sheepishness. "Even beyond Dagur trying to help, why is it so strange that he would return home?" Mala continued, "He once was chief, after all." Heather bobbed her head in agreement. "Yes, but he lost the position because he wasn't mentally stable enough to lead everyone." For a second, she diverted her eyes from Mala's hard glare, "For the safety of the island, he was banished."

The expression on Mala's face was a mixture of shock, anger, and sadness. She turned on her heel and began marching back up to where the dragons were waiting. "Where are you going?" Hiccup asked the Defender. The queen-to-be kept walking. "I am going to retrieve Dagur. I have seen him fight. If he has been caught, that means that the Outcasts took extreme measures and he will need my assistance." Hiccup rushed to keep up with her. "You can't go alone. You're right. If they got Dagur, they can get you too." Mala nodded, "I will not go in solitude. Instead, I will return to my home." She glanced at Heather and Oswald with contempt, "Apparently Dagur's fellow Berserkers will do little to come to his aid as he sought to do so for them, so I will include my own people." Heather stepped forward, "Dagur's only in this mess because he was trying to help us. I have to try to help him too. He's my brother." With a moderately surprised look, Mala narrowed her eyes at the younger girl and nodded. "I am still leaving now, so I would suggest finding a dragon to ride if you wish to accompany me." she said.

"You can ride with me on Stormfly." Astrid offered. Heather gave a smile of thanks to the Berkian and got on the Deadly Nadder. Strykie flapped his wings and began leading the others back to Defenders of the Wing Island. As this ensued, Alvin was happily moving to exit Dagur's cell. Stopping, the Outcast wiped some blood off a sword and sheathed the weapon. "Don't seem to have as much spunk now that you're chain up." he taunted, "Or is it that what I told you has gotten you all glum?" The Berserker's mind was elsewhere and he did not answer. Annoyed, Alvin went to kick him in the side. "Hey!" fD called, snapping his younger self back into his present situation. At the last second, pD caught Alvin's foot with some chain and tripped him up. This infuriated the larger viking who slashed the boy's back with the blade. Alvin grabbed Dagur by the braid, forcing his head back. Then, he put the sharp metal by the prisoner's throat and pushed it in. "I'd slit it if this weren't so much fun." Alvin growled. "I **have **always made for a great time." Dagur smirked, crazily. Alvin just glared at him and let go. "Guess you've earned your moniker too." he commented.

Alvin relocked the cell and began walking down the halls. "And don't expect anymore food or water besides needed amount for survival." the man called behind him. The Dagurs glowered after him, but fD quickly brought his attention back to his past counterpart. "You're going to need your head in the game. It's too tempting to become insane in here." he warned, feeling an uncomfortably familiar chill run up his spine. PD looked at him sadly, "He had to have been lying about why we're in here, right?" FD sighed, "I don't know. We'll be able to tell in person, I think." To himself, he added, _"Of, course, the next time we see them could be in three years."_ The chief felt a panic rise in his chest and he did some fast deep breaths. _"We don't even deserve to be here this time. What else won't change for the better?"_ PD noticed his companion's anxiety and went over to him. "How long did we stay here last time?" he asked. FD wanted to keep everything clandestine, but conceded to a bit of information. "Not forever obviously, but a lot longer than I wanted. It wasn't because of what Alvin said, though. I'd already done enough to have jail time coming. That's why I'm really not getting why this is happening still."

The night was the worst pD had ever experienced and the worst fD had lived through since a while ago. Everything creaked and leaked, fellow prisoners would not stop taunting the fallen ex-chief, and just about every Outcast on guard duty wanted to take advantage of the chains which prohibited the Berserker. PD side-eyed fD, "If everyday's going to be like this, I can't promise future sanity. I still don't even know for sure whether or not Heather's alive." His head lowered, "She's going to think that I just decided to never try to return. And Mala too. I said I'd come back. She'll think that I was lying and hoping for a way to leave with Strykie." Equal parts misery and rage filled the viking and he let out a roar. "Shut up." Alvin snarled, entering the prison and marching up to Dagur. "Well, **you **seem to be in a hurry. What? Worried I'll run away?" the Berserker's voice dripped with sarcasm as he showed off the chains. An expression which did not convey calmness was on Alvin's face and Dagur took note of it. Alvin unlocked the cell and yoked the inmate's hair. In a swift slice, he cut off the braid and left the cell. "Throw him in the pit." the Outcast said. "Okay," Savage began, "but do you want us to bring him back out bef-" The viking got slammed against the wall by Alvin and an ax was by his head. "I just said 'throw him in the pit'."

With fearful eyes, Savage nodded and unlocked Dagur's chains with several other Outcasts. Together, they forced him over to the pit and pushed him down, smiling once a thud was heard. Alvin left the dungeon and went back to the main entrance of his cave. The chief flung the braid onto the floor and at the feet of his visitors. "That's all that's left of your friend." he said. A group of Outcasts each had crossbows, maces, axes, and swords ready and pointed. All of them had their weapons aimed at the Dragon Riders and Mala. "We cannot be so easily dissuaded." the princess declared. Alvin stepped forward, "You make one move, you or your dragons, and you'll all be filled full of arrows." The Outcast's bravado faltered as he heard the sounds of his Outcasts outside the cave crying out. "This should be all of you." he mentioned, trying to conceal his nerves. Through the entry, Defenders poured in, speedily outnumbering the Outcasts. "This doesn't have to end this way, Alvin." Hiccup told him. "Just tell us where he is and we can go." Mala shot him a look, but stayed quiet. Alvin eyed the room and watched as his vikings fell. Suddenly, the island itself shook. Parts of the roof started to fall and vikings ran to avoid being crushed.

In the chaos, Alvin ran out of the cave. Savage tried to follow him, but was cut off by Strykie. Attempting to find another exit, Toothless shot plasma in front of the Outcast. Savage rose his hands over his head, "He's below in a pit." he divulged. The vikings maneuvered around the stalagtites and found the pit. Strykie zipped down and clawed the body of one Whispering Death. A disbelieving, though joyful smile appeared on Dagur's face. He was using his chains to keep the dragons at bay as much as possible, but he was tiring out and appreciated the needed aid. The Berserker let out a laugh when he saw Mala on Strykie's back and the dragon scooped him up to join her. "Well, I guess you've become a rider." he teased. Mala playfully frowned at him, then turned serious. "They have completely destabilized the island. We need to escape now." she said. Understanding, Strykie flew upwards and led the other dragons into the open sky. Since the Whispering Deaths were disgruntled, Toothless reluctantly went down and shooed them up from the ground, rounding them up.

The vikings and Defenders left Outcast island with many prisoners. The Defenders returned to their island, but the riders all went back to Berserker Island. Dagur had noticed that Heather was with them and smiled at her. She smiled back, though it faded. When they arrived back home, she would talk to him, she mentally decided. The ride back was a relatively quiet one, allowing for fD to feel some hope. PD grinned down at his reptilian friend and peeked at Mala. "Thank you." he told her. Gently, she hugged him, "I might have been a bit worried." Her eyes trailed over the cuts, knowing many would become scars. Mala took out some first aid that she had brought with her. "You don't have to do that." Dagur told her, hearing her open up the container. The Defender's face was calm, "I know." She continued and felt anger at Alvin and, nonetheless, peace at Dagur being alive. When they all arrived at Berserker Island, they landed back up near the top of the island. Once they had, Oswald rushed over, a relieved look on his face. "I'm so glad you're back." he said, hugging Dagur, "We were all worried, Son." The younger Berserker pushed him away, roughly, a hurt look in his eyes. "So it **was **true." he realized, "You and Alvin set this whole thing up."


	15. Accusations

A tense silence followed as the vikings and princess watched Dagur glare Oswald down. The chief blinked, "You think I'm working with Alvin?" he asked. Dagur scowled, "I **know **you did." Oswald scoffed, "I would not be so sure if I were you. You 'know' very little." The younger Berserker practically lunged at the chief and Mala stopped him. "You are not well enough." she reasoned. Dagur seethed, though did not attack. Heather stepped between her brother and father. "Hold on!" she shouted, "Dagur, Dad would never do something like that. What's gotten into you?" The boy frowned at her as well, "Alvin told me while I was there, but I didn't want to believe it. Oswald proved he was right just now by acting so worried." His furious expression turned more sad, "Really gave it away when you called me 'Son'. You've **never **done that." Oswald began, "That's not tr-." He paused for a moment, "Well, you've never given me a reason to. Excuse me for not having imagined that my firstborn would be insane. **Heather **is of sound mind like myself." Blood in Dagur started to boil. "And that's why you decided to have me out of the picture entirely by being caught by Alvin?" The chief chuckled, "Too short-sighted. By getting rid of you, I ensured that neither you nor anyone else would cause any harm to Berserker Island." His expression darkened, "I was protecting my vikings and now that you have been freed, my end of the deal will not be kept and we'll have a war on our hands."

Oswald's face changed to convey an idea forming. "Maybe, we won't have a war after all." As his focus lessened, Dagur's became more narrow. "What war? Who's coming?" he questioned. The chief shook his head slightly, "No one's coming. Not yet and not ever." The ex-chief was not relenting so easily. "Apparently, you think someone's going to come after everybody here. We need to know so we can either attack first or at least fend them off." Dagur told, annoyed. The two glared at one another, both with stern and focused expressions. The longer they stared the other down, the angrier Dagur felt and Mala as well as Strykie sensed it. The Triple Stryke readied his tail, causing his rider to reluctantly stop him. "We can figure out who the vikings are, but now," Mala started, "you should rest for a moment. Should there be a battle, we will need to you at full capacity." Grumbling, Dagur went to the village with the princess, leaving his confused sister with the others. Heather blinked at Oswald, "Is he right? Did you set it up?" she asked. The chief straightened his back and looked her in the eyes. "What I did was protect you and all of Berserker Island. If there is something wrong with that, then perhaps **I **am the one who is insane."

Without waiting for an answer, the man walked away. He did not go to his hut, so as to avoid Dagur. Instead, Oswald went to the Hall, frowning all the way. _"Now that he's back, it's only a matter of time before Ryker and his vikings bring their battleships this way." _His frown turned into a confused expression. _"Heather looked so shocked at what I did. All of them did."_ The chief turned ashen, _"What if they're not the only ones who think that? The other Berserkers might change their minds on Dagur again and decide that they want him back as leader."_ Hardly realizing it, the Berserker's breath turned fast and shallow as he began to panic. "He'll run this island into the ground. Below the sea even!" Oswald thought aloud. When Vorg entered the Hall, Oswald brushed past him and ran into the village. _"This is almost as crazy as Dagur, but I'm out of options."_ He mused once he reached a hut. The man knocked heavily on the door and impatiently awaited an answer. Ansson opened the door and was met with a familiarly brisk greeting from the chief. "Aye, Chief. What can I do ya for this time?" he asked, a bit of annoyance in his tone. The Berserker's lackadaisical countenance changed when he looked at Oswald. The man was positively mad, pacing back and forth and muttering to himself with a wild look in his eyes. Abruptly, he turned to Ansson. "I'm giving you one last chance. Fail this time, and you're off the island."

During Oswald's meeting, Dagur was showing Mala his old hut. "I need to know who we're up against." he stated, upset. The two sat down and Mala pursed her lips. "Well, we can make a list of people who might want to harm Berserker Island, though that could become too vague." she commented. The Berserker sighed, "Whoever it is, it seems like it's somebody who's recently been around. No one on the island or anything, but I guess, someone Oswald thinks I'll mess up by being around them." A light dawned on his face. "What?" Mala inquired, seeing the realization. "Nothing happened until you and I fought off those hunters." He lowered his eyes slightly, "I'd been gone for a little while by that point and no one was after me, so it has to be that Oswald's made some agreement with the hunters." The boy shot up, "And if he's done that, he might try to give them Strykie and the other dragons too." Dagur went to the door and Mala joined him. FD followed them and was thinking hard about the hunters. "That dragon I was telling you about who's in the center of the island-if the hunters **do **come here, they'll be after it." he told pD. The younger Dagur gave a subtle nod and kept going, seeing that neither the Berkians nor Heather had left the hill.

Toothless was gently nudging Heather's hand, trying to comfort her. "There has to be something that we're missing." the girl said, her brows furrowing deeply. "Well, if someone might be a threat to the island," Hiccup started, "we should ask Oswald who he was talking to. Maybe we can rationalize with him." Rather than respond, Heather just silently glared at the grass. "You **could **ask him, but he won't tell you anything." Dagur said, approaching with Mala, "I'm pretty sure that the vikings we're going after are dragons hunters." A collective gasp was emitted from the riders. "What makes you think that?" Hiccup asked. "And more importantly, where do we find them?" Astrid chimed in. Dagur patted Strykie's head and leaned against him. "Alvin came as soon as I stopped one of the hunts and I'm not entirely sure where they are right now, but I know they like to find different types of dragons. We'd have to go outside the archipelago to find them. There are more dragons out there and the hunters know it." Fishlegs shuddered, "Outside the archipelago? We've never gone that far before." His friend nodded, "But we'll have to if we want to stop them. Let's head back to Berk and let them know what we're doing." Hiccup stated. He pulled out a map. "Tomorrow morning, we can meet up here." he added, pointing to a spot, "It's the perfect halfway point between us. We can head from there to the other islands."

Everyone was in agreement and the Berkians got back on their dragons. Before they took off, Dagur called to them. "Hey, thanks for coming to get me." he told them. They smiled and left Berserker Island for their own home. Mala and the Berserkers watched them fly away. The Defender side-eyed Heather, noticing that the younger viking was still frowning. Dagur wanted to say something to his sister, but she was visibly in deep thought and the annoying pain that he had been ignoring was relentlessly trying to get his attention. His hand brushed Mala's. "We have extra guest huts that I'll you, but I'll be right back." he told her, not particularly wanting her to see him limp to his hut. She nodded and waited for him to leave prior to going over to Heather. "While I am sure that it is difficult to learn of your father's actions, Dagur does deserve your belief in him to know that he would not fabricate this." she said. Heather looked at her, "It's not that I think he's lying, but Dad wouldn't do that." she proclaimed. Seeing that Mala could not disagree more, the Berserker left. She did not go to her normal hut this time and went back to Axel and Mia's hut. They opened the door with welcoming arms. "What's wrong?" Axel asked Heather. She frowned, "Everyone thinks that my other dad set up Dagur to get captured by Alvin, but he wouldn't do that." She went to her room faster than they could offer advice and closed the door. The girl paced back and forth. _"I won't accept this. There's no way that the biological father I've been dreaming of having since before I can even remember would do something like this. He cares about Dagur and I. He'd never try to hurt us or cause it to happen." _A determined look was in her eyes, _"And I know how to prove that_."

That evening, Mala settled into one of the guest huts and Dagur took another for himself. The last thing he wanted was to stay in the same hut as Oswald. "What's all this about some special dragon they need?" he asked his older self. "The King of Dragons is what it's called." fD said, "The hunters want to control it so that they can control every other dragon through it." The youthful Dagur grunted, "Dragons, dragon riders, and dragon hunters. And not to forget a sister who doesn't believe me about the last one." He sighed, "She looked like she'd do anything to prove me wrong." FD gave a small nod of his head, then his eyes widened. "You might not be wrong and if she'd really do anything to prove that, then we need to stop her." PD realized what fD meant and he rushed outside, going to Oswald's hut first and then the one belonging to Mia and Axel. When he found Heather at neither, the Berserker went up to the hill and jumped on the Triple Stryke's back. The boy groaned, _"What are you getting yourself into, Sis?"_


	16. The Siege

The Triple Stryke flew to the outskirts of the archipelago. In the air, Dagur thought about how Mala was still on Berserker Island. _"It might have taken too long to get her up." _he reasoned, _"I don't even know **when **Heather left."_ Something else that the viking quickly realized was that he had no clue which direction his sister had gone. All Dagur knew was that Heather would be heading outside of the archipelago. The Berserker flew all night until he finally found a Berserker boat and two other ships docked by an island. "Over there, pal." Dagur told Strykie. The two swooped down to find Heather and the hunters. When they found the girl, she was fighting off several hunters with an ax. As one rose his sword, Strykie blasted it out of his hands. The Triple Stryke stung the hunters with his tails, making them drop to the floor and writhe in agony. Within a few moments, the venom killed the vikings. Dagur looked at his sister with a furious expression. "Are you okay?" he asked, gruffly. She nodded. "Did any of them get away?" was his next question. "Yeah, I saw some head towards the ships before you got here." Heather confirmed. Dagur's scowl had not left his face since landing and it managed to become more angry.

"Maybe take of a few deep breaths or you might explode." fD suggested. PD did as he was recommended and silently pointed to Strykie's saddle. Reluctantly, Heather hopped onto the dragon's back and Strykie flew over to the Berserker boat, grasping the side with his claws. He flew off with the small vessel and the trio headed away from the island. "Why are we headed in the opposite direction from Berserker Island?" Heather asked. Dagur kept his eyes on the water, "Because now that we'll be having company, we could use more dragons." He was too upset to let the younger Berserker off so easily and turned slightly. "I get that you don't want to believe Dad **is **the way he is, but why not find a less possibly war-causing method to prove that?!" the boy questioned. Heather's head lowered a bit, "This was the only thing I could think of to do. If no one shows up, that'll mean that Dad didn't try to set you up." Dagur sighed and turned back to the skies, "Honestly, I'd like to have you be right on this."

After a short amount of time, the three reached the midway point between Berk and Berserker Island. The Berkians had arrived already and were able to note that something was wrong. "What happened?" Hiccup asked. "Nothing yet, but some hunters got away and will be coming back for revenge on their hunts being ruined." Dagur told him. Heather's shoulders rounded a bit and the Berkians took notice. "Well, what do we know about these vikings who are coming?" Hiccup asked. FD spoke to his younger self, who repeated what he was learning. "They're dragon hunters led by the Grimborn brothers. The older one, Ryker, leads the field hunts, but his younger brother, Viggo, is the one who's really in charge. If we take him out, the rest of them will crumble, however, right now we need to get ready for their attack. They've got arrows with dragon root tips, so we need to avoid those." He paused for a moment, "They aren't too tough to beat, but we've got to remember that our dragons have to stay high up to not get disoriented." The Berserker side-eyed his older counterpart. "Yep, that's everything." fD clarified. Several seconds lapsed as the riders took in what they heard. Though the time was not long, it was more than the impatient Berserker wished to spend.

"So we need to start heading back and letting the Berserker guard know that we're about to have an attack." Dagur said, arms crossed. This snapped the younger vikings back into the situation and their dragons flapped their wings. Since time was of the essence, all the dragons flew at top speed. Toothless matched Strykie's pace to fly alongside the Berserkers. "These hunters, have you fought them a lot before?" the Berkian inquired. Dagur shrugged, "Twice now." Hiccup frowned, slightly, "Then how do you know so much about them?" His friend bit his lip, "Um, perceptive? It doesn't really matter, brother." Before Hiccup could ask about anything else, Dagur tapped the Triple Stryke's head to signal for him to fly faster and go ahead of the others. When they got to Berseker Island, the vikings went to the top and landed. Mala was there waiting with her arms crossed. She was given a sheepish grin, "Glad you're up. Can you spread the word on the east side of the island to go to the center for an announcement about a battle strategy?" Dagur requested. Mala nodded and hurried down the hill. "Heather, you, Astrid, and the Twins can take care of the West. Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout get the south. I'll get the north." The group split up and headed in their separate directions.

Given the location of the Hall, Heather went in to tell Oswald about the impending attack. The chief smiled when he saw her, though it faded when he saw how worried she looked. "What's going on?" he questioned. "The hunters are on their way." Heather told him. In a flash, she could see rage in his eyes. His fists clenched, "**That's** where he went this morning. No wonder Ansson couldn't find him." he said, through gritted teeth. "No, it was me." Heather stated, "I went out to prove that he was wrong about what he said you did." Oswald's expression softened, "Heather, all of my actions are to ensure your safety and the longevity of our tribe." The girl's brows furrowed, "I just need to hear you say that you didn't set him up. You couldn't have, could you?" Oswald remained quiet, "We need to prepare." He went out to the center and saw that all of the Berserkers had gathered to hear the plan. The chief also saw that Dagur was about to give the plan and went to the stage by him. Dagur stood his ground, "Do you know how to **stop** the hunters or just work with them?" he asked, glaring. Without answering, Oswald turned around and spoke to the crowd of vikings.

The Berserker spoke like the chief he was, but not like someone who had a good plan. During his speech, Hiccup noticed that Heather could not stop frowning and went over to her. "Are you okay?" She shook her head, "He did it, Hiccup. He really set up Dagur. His own son." Despite how much Hiccup wanted to have an open mind and give Oswald the benefit of a doubt, the chief was not really trying to even pretend that he was innocent of the accusation. "Maybe we just need to hear his side of the story." was all he could muster. Heather nodded, absent-mindedly, and watched as her father and brother semi-fought for the stage. The fight did not last long as Dagur's limited patience lessened more. "I am chief here, Dagur." Oswald stated, firmly. "I don't care about who's chief right now. The only thing that matters is everyone on this island not getting wiped out!" Prior to Oswald commenting again, Dagur stepped in front of him and spoke to the vikings. To them, he relayed what fD told him. "If we go into groups, some of us can fight the hunters who come on land and the rest can focus on commandeering their ships. Given how much time has passed, they'll probably be here within the hour."

Immediately, the vikings began putting Dagur's plan into action. In the crowd, Mala spotted a viking with an odd look in his eyes. When Dagur was done, she went over to him and gestured with her head. "He looks suspicious." she said. Dagur nodded, "He's Ansson and is always up to something. He and Oswald worked together before, but I'm hoping that neither are dumb enough to try something today." He and the older Berserker locked eyes for a second, but Ansson broke the stare and kept walking. Mala and Dagur found Hiccup and the others. "Brother, you and Fishy would probably do best up there with the dragons. You can help them spot whatever/whoever needs to be shot." Hiccup and Fishlegs agreed and went up the hill to the reptiles. As everyone prepared, time flew by. Before anyone knew it, an alarm saying that the hunter ships had been seen was heard. When they got in range, Toothless shot the wenches off of the ships. His blasts were soon followed by the other dragons' once the hunters got closer. A couple of ships were stopped by the aerial assault, but some did dock. The Berserkers started attacking the hunters and the sound of clashing metal echoed through the air. Dagur was attacking several hunters and had run the last one through when Oswald came running up. "It's Heather." he panted.

Worry filled Dagur and he followed Oswald to find where his sister was. When they got to some rubble, a small portion of a body could be seen underneath. Dagur hurried with unburying Heather and stopped only when he felt something cold against his throat. Oswald kept a blade to his neck and from the rubble, Ansson emerged. "Now." Oswald told him, "Do it now." Ansson glanced between the young viking, the chief, and his own ax. "What are you waiting for?" Oswald growled, forcing Dagur's arm behind his back to keep him as still as possible. Ansson rose his weapon, then heard the cries of hunters and Berserkers battling. He rose it again, but lowered the ax back down. "Sorry, Chief. We're under attack. This is too far even for me. Ya want him dead, ya can do yer own dirty work this time." The Berserker left and went to join in the fight. "Coward!" Oswald yelled after him. "Fine, I don't need him. I can kill you myself." He pushed the blade in a bit, drawing a trace a blood. "You'd really kill me, Dad?" Dagur asked, more hurt in his voice than disbelief. "You caused this attack and I would do whatever it takes to keep my own safe."

FD opened his mouth to make a suggestion, but a look from pD told him that the situation was now under control. "Heather's already upset about you setting me up. What's she going to think if you murder me?" Dagur inquired, calmly. Oswald fumed, though hesitated, "She'll think that I did what I had to do. If she can't understand, she'll have to learn to work past that." The younger Berserker continued, "If you want me dead, fine, but even if only you know how it happened, don't you want it to be in a fair fight rather than a sneaky trick?" Oswald stopped and thought, _"That could work. If I slit his throat, that princess would argue that he would not let any hunter get so close. Heather could learn of what I've done and it's possible that she'd never forgive me. I could lose her again; however, if I fight him, he's still wounded from his time with Alvin and I can certainly win against him."_ The chief removed the knife from Dagur's throat and stepped away, getting into a fight stance. Dagur eyed Oswald and smirked, "You know, I'm beginning to see where I got my crazy side from." he commented. Enraged, the chief charged at him, only to be sidestepped. Oswald unsheathed his sword and came again, but was quickly disarmed. Hearing more of the battling going on around them, Dagur rushed at Oswald and knocked the chief's head into a hut's wall.

Oswald stumbled back and received another blow to the head from a club which effectively ended the fight. The man fell, unconscious, and was dragged to the side of a hut before Dagur left to fight more hunters. A few minutes went by before the chief groggily awoke. He rubbed his head and got up to find Dagur again. Instead, Ryker found him. "You've proven incapable of keeping your end of the bargain, Oswald." the hunter stated. Oswald snarled, "If you'd get out of my way, I can." Ryker shook his head, "It was a mistake trying to work with you. You've failed us and failures are not permitted to continue on as though they had succeeded." The Berserker's temper flared, "You can't kill me on my own island! This is in-" A blade plunged into his chest before he could move. "You won't be failing us again." Ryker said, yanking the weapon back out. He looked around, "Your vikings have fared better than you." The hunter crept around the backside of the island, avoiding the large numbers of Berserkers and made his escape on a smaller ship. Oswald clutched at his wound and struggled to stand. Unable to walk further, he leaned against a hut and closed his eyes.


	17. Never-ending

The battle between the hunters, Berserkers, and Berkians was fading. A group of hunters who surrounded Mala found themselves being blasted by the dragons from the hill. Realizing that they were losing the fight, one hunter tried a desperate last move. He sneaked over and caught Heather by putting an ax to her throat. "Stay back!" he ordered the other Berserkers. The vikings backed off and began lowering their weapons. Dagur finally reached the area and saw the scene. Mustering all of his stealth, he crept behind the hunter and stabbed his arm. This caused an opening so Heather could move and so that Dagur could run the hunter through. Losing their last hope for leverage, one hunter called out to the others, "Retreat!" Before following them to the docks, the hunter scowled at Dagur. "You might have won today, but there'll always be more hunters. We can't be stopped. All you've done is make everyone here enemies of ours." As the Berserker drew a knife, the hunter hurried after the rest of his group. "He's right. Maybe that's the problem." fD muttered, "It really isn't anyone in particular."

PD looked at his future self in askance, but received no reply. As the hunters left, the Berserkers went to check on one another. Dagur caught up with Mala and the Berkians, already knowing that Heather was safe. Captain Vorg approached the vikings with a morose expression. "The chief." he said, quietly. He led the siblings to where Oswald laid and Heather gasped, then turned away. Dagur could not describe his emotions, but did frown at the sight. He went over and brought the body to the docks. The other vikings gathered around as a funeral was given. When the flaming arrows lit Oswald's ship coffin, tears freely flowed down Heather's cheek and a twinge of sadness tugged at Dagur's heart. _"Why couldn't we end on good terms? It didn't have to end like this, or today at all."_he thought. Whether he truly believed that they could have had a good relationship or not, the fact was that Oswald and Dagur had never seen eye to eye since he had been born. For as long as he could remember, Dagur knew that he was resented by his father for not having the same sanity as everyone else on the island; however it was not until that day that he realized there was a possibility he inherited his mental stability from his father. _"Sort of ironic, if I'm right.__" _he mused, _"We should have been able to understand each other."_

The evening was a solemn one. Heather spent most of the night being consoled by Fishlegs and Astrid while Mala was staying by Dagur's side. The pair sat silently in Dagur's old hut. "Is it weird that I don't feel all that upset?" he suddenly asked the Defender, sharpening a blade. She looked down, trying to think of a good response. "I am not sure." Mala said eventually, unable to come up with one. "I mean, I'm not happy or anything, but not half as sad as Heather and I've known him my whole life." the Berserker paused, "I guess that's why we feel differently." The princess peeked at him, "Do not believe that you are cold, though." she said, "I can tell that you are still saddened and it makes sense...as does your reduced grief." Dagur's brows furrowed, "Our last moments together were me trying to drag his unconscious body to some safe enough spot after he tried to kill me. I don't think I really ever got how much hatred he felt. Even in the midst of the island being attacked, all he could think about was me being out of his way." While the boy spoke, dejection increasingly could be heard in his voice. Mala hugged him, "Maybe he was worried that people would notice how he thought differently too." Dagur shrugged, "Maybe." An encouraging smile formed on the princess's face, "But I **have **heard that all of the best vikings in history have succeeded due to their uniqueness. They did not become discouraged by what made them different and instead embraced it. Today, you had a very effective plan to keep Berserker Island safe, whether you are typical or not. I'm confident that as you strategize more, your ideas will only become more impressive. You did and will keep this island safe, Dagur the Deranged. I am certain that your father would be proud of that."

As the two conversed, Heather opened up to the Berkians about her new plans. "With Dad gone, the Berserkers will need a new chief now." she stated. "Heather," Hiccup began, "You don't really have to think about all that so soon. Take some time to process." Mia and Axel hugged their daughter and Fishlegs placed his hand on Heather's, but she stood. "No, the wellbeing of the island was important to him-that beyond anything else." the viking told, "He would hate what I'm about to do, but it's the only thing that makes sense." Heather left the hut and went to Dagur's. She knocked on the door and entered upon Mala opening it. Dagur glanced up at her. He wanted to ask how she was doing, but he had hated that question when he had lost their mom. Of course she is doing terribly. What was the point of pretending otherwise? Without prompt, Heather said, "I'm giving you back the title of chief." Dagur's eyes widened and Heather continued. "I'm not ready to lead and, honestly, I don't want to. I saw how leading messed with Dad's head and don't know if I could handle it. You've already been chief. You can take the pressure and responsibilities that come with this. I knew you should've been chief even before everything really began, but today proved it." Her eyes lowered, "I almost got everyone here killed and you got us out of it. I've told you before, but you **deserve** to be chief, Dagur." she paused, "And I really apologize for not believing you about everything. I know you didn't try to get rid of me when we were little and know you wouldn't lie about what happened with Alvin." Heather sighed, "I just didn't want to believe that Dad would do what he did, but I should have been there for you instead of just siding with him like I did. Can you forgive me?" Her answer was a big hug.

Late that night, Dagur got out of his room, unable to sleep, and went around the hut. He saw fD pacing. "What's wrong?" he asked him. "That hunter was right." the man said, nervously. "Right about what?" pD inquired. "About there always being more hunters, more flyers, more Viggos and Dragos. I've been acting like it can be stopped, but it can only be defended against." PD tiltled his head, "What are you talking about? Is someone coming soon?" FD turned his attention to the younger viking, "It's time that I told you why I came here."


	18. Anticipation

PD crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Okay," he began, "Why did you come here?" FD sighed, miserably, beginning. "In my timeline, Mala and I got married and started going back and forth between Berserker Island and Defenders of the Wing Island. After Toothless leaves for a new home and brings all of the dragons with him, we had to evacuate everyone to all live here and avoid the lava. The problem was that we were all concentrated in one area." He stopped for a moment and his eyes went to the floor. "There was an attack...a massacre. Dragon hunters, Outcasts, **everyone** we've ever gone against-apart from the Berkians- came." Dagur balled his hands into fists. "They attacked in the middle of the night like cowards and took out our people before we even knew they were there." The Berserker's anger turned back into sadness. "They killed everyone. I-I wasn't able to protect Heather or Mala. The **entire **island was slaughtered. The only reason I wasn't was because they said this was payback for what I'd done." Dagur held his head in his hand. "I knew that I'd done terrible things, so the options of what they meant were almost limitless. It could have been because of my attack on the island that had Heather's adoptive parents, when I tried to kill Alvin, or even when I turned on the hunters. The only thing I knew for certain was that it was what I deserved for every bit of harm I'd caused. No one else deserved to die for it, though. I decided if I could find a way to go back and fix my mistakes, maybe this wouldn't happen."

PD silently took in the information before speaking. "And I'm guessing I can't tell anyone else **why **we'd be training all day?" he asked. FD shook his head. "It could cause more issues if you do. They might try to go out and stop it, then get caught or killed by someone. Oddly enough, the safest thing might be to just let the enemies come to us. We can always be ready. I won't leave until the improved memories come in, so we'll to train everyone together." he promised. The younger Berserker sighed, "Well, guess it's a great thing that I'm chief again. We'll start prepping tomorrow." FD nodded and pD attempted to get some rest, but he could not. The night was a sleepless one. When Dagur awoke, the only thing on his mind was ensuring that neither any of his Berserkers nor the Defenders got killed. Along with that thought was the knowledge that he and Mala would get married. An automatic smile formed on his face as he imagined the ceremony and an even larger grin came when he saw the princess.

Mala chuckled at his excited smile. "Good morning. Being chief agrees with you." she complimented. "Just excited about some aspects of the future." Dagur beamed, though the joy vanished from his visage once he thought of what else the future would bring. "My first act as reinstated chief will be to fortify the island. We need to make sure no unwanted vikings can come in or get out without being noticed and eliminated." The chief's hand went to his weapon, envisioning how he would kill anyone who dared to even consider harming any of his vikings. Mala picked up on the change and went near him. "I know that today is a bittersweet one for you, but I wanted you to be aware of how you have support from my Defenders and myself." "I know." he answered, sincerely. The Berserker looked again to the island, "I want to make sure the island's safe, though. Anybody could attack at anytime right now. We're totally unguarded." He started going to the outskirts of the island and looking around. FD pointed to their left, "There's a blind spot right here that I didn't notice before the attack. We need another watchtower that can cover this side of the island. If we do, there shouldn't be any places left that can't be seen by us."

PD nodded and went to go find some vikings. Captain Vorg and a few others started the construction of the watchtower while Dagur continued spotting new places to fix. Within the next month, there were several watchtowers added to the island and more advanced training for the vikings had begun. Having been made aware of their resident king of dragons in the center of their maze of caves, Dagur arranged for the Berserkers to be prepared for hunters and flyers to come. One night, the Bewilderbeast was heavily on Dagur's mind. "I know you said the dragons will end up leaving eventually, but if we get more riders on Berserker Island, it'll be easier to defeat the hunters and fliers when they come." he stated, glancing at his older self. "That makes sense to me. Having more trained soldiers never hurts in battle." Dagur kept true to his plan and the next day, small groups were sent out to find new dragons. The chief accompanied them and they returned with Deadly Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares in tow. As the years progressed, Dagur observed as his island and vikings grew stronger, himself included. PD smirked, playfully as he went by fD, who had officially outgrown.

Along with the work on Berserker Island, Dagur would often visit Defenders of the Wing Island to see Mala. He could never shake the looming feeling of dread, but at the same time, the chief wanted to enjoy the present. One afternoon on Mala's island was spent taking the Defenders of the Wing king trials. Mala, who had been given the title 'queen' upon her last birthday, smiled ear to ear when Dagur successfully finished the tests. The day before the the royals were married, the hunters attacked Berserker Island as fD had warned. Berserker Island was impenetrable and in a short amount of time, the attackers had been stopped. The subsequent evening after the wedding, Dagur started work on combining the islands. "Maybe we should move more people here, just in case the Great Protector ever has to leave?" Dagur suggested. Mala tapped her chin, "I doubt that our Great Protector would ever willingly abdicate his responsibilities to leave us." Upon looking at her new husband's distressed expression, Mala continued, "Though anything is possible. Perhaps we can gradually move some of the Defenders, so as to prevent anyone from being left behind if there needs to be an evacuation and our numbers are too large." Dagur smiled, "Great! We can get to work on that tomorrow."

Slowly, but surely, the Defenders were moved onto Berserker Island. Not one person even questioned the reason their king kept adding new huts to the land prior to getting newly confirmed residents. Fortunately, the island was of a size that accommodated everyone. This plan proved useful when Toothless called all of the dragons to leave for their hidden world. With everyone on Berserker Island, Dagur knew it was only a matter of time before the attack came. He did not know how everything would transpire, but he knew that the only massacre this time would be of their opponents. FD informed pD that the day was getting closer. Each night became harder to make a restful one. Mala caught Dagur as he went to go pace around the island one evening. "Where are you going?" she asked, tiredly. The chief cursed under his breath for waking her. "I'm just going to do a bit of surveillance around the island." Mala shook her head, "Something is wrong. What's going on, Dagur?" He looked at her and held her hand, "It's too odd to explain how I know, but I know something's on its way here and I have to make sure we're going to be okay." Mala started to get up, "Then I shall come with you." The Berserker knew better than to attempt dissuading her and the pair walked around the island.

"This knowledge is why you have seemed so depressed lately then." Mala commented. Dagur nodded, "What if after all we've done, it's not enough? What of the island gets destroyed, if everyone gets killed? You, Heather, Throk-everyone could lose their lives if we don't handle things correctly." The chieftess put her hand to Dagur's face, calming him. "We will not lose." she declared, "Our island is strong and our people are stronger. Whoever has the audacity to come here for a fight will have far more than they bargained for." They stayed outside, looking at the ocean for half an hour, then returned to their hut. Later that day, an alarm was heard. Dagur grimaced and looked at fD. "They're here."


	19. What Tomorrow Brings

The ships of Outcasts and hunters could be seen in the horizon. Without even needing to be given orders, the Berserkers and Defenders launched their catapults. Several ships were hit by the boulders, though more were lined up behind them. "Take out as many ships as you can. We'll take care of the ones that make it past you to dock." Dagur called up to the vikings. They blasted holes into some more of the ships. Sinking ships scattered around the island, leaving no remnants od what they once were beyond the screams of their crews. Still, more drew closer. "We're running out of boulders!" Vorg told. Mala held up her hand, "Then save them. We shall use arrows for the next assault." A group of Defenders and Berserkers fired a barrage of flaming arrows at the incoming attackers. The flesh of the foes were pierced and the vikings fell on the decks of their ships. Despite this, the blue from the sea itself could not be seen under the layer of vessels which coated it. Soon, the arrows became of short supply. "Some will be on the island within minutes, Dagur." Mala commented. The king nodded, morosely, "Are you ready?" In reply, the queen unsheathed her sword.

When the first hunter stepped his foot onto the island, Throk was there to separate it, ensuring the rest of the hunter stayed elsewhere. Heather was fast to join him, then went to attack several hunters on the west side. When the numbers around the Berserker grew unmanageable, her brother came to her aid. Dagur ran three hunters through and glanced up to the catapults. They were officially out of boulders. Fortunately, fD was not one to lack a back up plan. "Have them use the chains and nets now. We'll use the bolas down here." he instructed. PD took out two more hunters and charged over to his vikings to deliver the message. Immediately, the Defenders and Berserkers changed their load and continued shooting. Gradually, the ocean could again be seen. "There are still a lot, but we're hurting them now." pD smirked to his future self, letting out a depraved laugh. "We just need to keep this up." The chief went to find Mala and slayed any and every hunter who was on the way. The queen was handling her own and did a spin with her blade pointing outwards. The pain filled grunts of the minced hunters led Dagur to the chieftess's location.

"Their numbers are swindling." Mala noted, a small smile forming on her face. "Most likely because of what's been going on here. That was a nice move!" Dagur said. The two tag teamed on the side of the island, eliminating more and more of their enemies. Soon, the ships were almost all destroyed. Only a few outlasted the Defenders' and Berserkers' supply of weaponry, so the main issues were the hunters who had docked. As the royal couple killed their attackers, they noticed Heather moving towards them. In her arms, was a wounded Throk. "He was fighting off seven and they got in too many hits." Heather said. "They got him in the side, but I don't think it went in too far." Concern was still audible in her voice as she helped him stand up. Dagur ducked a punch from a hunter and thought about the guard. The queen looked at the two. "I can help you get back to the huts." she suggested. A nervous pit formed in Dagur's stomach as he mused. _"It's too dangerous to get to the huts withthese two unable to fight. No way I'm risking losing them all in one trip." _he thought, determined. "No, I'll go with them. I'll send more vikings over here for support." he told. Mala agreed to the plan and kept fighting. Seeing how challenging it was for Heather and Throk to keep the latter upright, Dagur lifted the guard over one shoulder. In his other hand, he kept a blade ready to strike.

"Herald!" Dagur called, "Get to the docks to help Mala." The Berserker brought several warriors with him and aided Mala in her defense. As the queen and her subjects fought, Dagur, Throk, and Heather reached the huts. Throk was placed down in a cot and Heather went over to him. "He won't be able to fight anymore today. I'll be back out after I'm done applying the first aid, though." she said. Dagur shook his head. "You stay here with him. I'll have some vikings come over to make sure no one breaks in and attacks " he told her. The chief left the hut and found three soldiers to give the orders to. They sped off to Throk's hut and Dagur returned to find Mala. As he ran, his heart pounded in his chest. He did not stop worrying until he saw that the chieftess was alive and still fighting. Dagur joined her, being comforted in the lessening noises around them. After a few minutes, the couple had no more opponents to fight. "Is it over?" Mala asked. The two glanced about before heading to see Throk and Heather. Along the way, everything was calm. Hunters were being dragged to the ocean for cleanup and some residents of the island were assessing damage.

When Mala and Dagur got to Throk's hut, they heard their people talking. Though the guard was still injured, Heather had aided him and it looked like he would recover well. "You're all okay." Dagur said, giving Heather a hug. "We thought that we heard the hunters for a moment, but nobody came in." his sister said. "Seems like they kept their focus on the warriors outside." As the king was about to sigh a breath of relief, he balked. "They **did **come over?" Throk tiredly nodded. "One glanced this way through the door when they entered." He painfully gestured to the three vikings who had come to protect them. Dagur's face turned pale and he went outside. "They must have put something over here." fD commented. PD agreed and they scanned the area closely. Mala exited the hut to see where Dagur had gone and went over to him. "The war is over, Dagur. We can rest." she said. "I can't!" the king exclaimed, "They wouldn't have seen Heather and Throk and just left them alone. **Something's** here...I just don't kn-" Dagur stopped short and held a finger up to his lips. He could hear a subtle sizzling sound. Following it, he saw that it led across the path to a large barrel. Once he realized what the crate contained, the viking leapt into action. _"It's blasting jelly!" _he thought. A small string had been lit with fire, but the string extended to go inside of the barrel as well. _"At least the jelly's not filled to __the top, but that won't leave me much time." _The king grabbed the barrel and ran down to the docks. Dagur got on a boat and tried to row as far away as possible. In a split second, he no longer heard a sizzle.

The water around the boat crashed waves everywhere. Pieces of the boat splashed as it broke apart. Amongst the ruins was the barely conscious chief. Dagur barely kept his eyes open, though attempted


End file.
